You'd be on My Pro List
by StEpPiNg StOnEs
Summary: Meril immediately positioned herself so that she was huddled between Fred and George. That was her birthday wish: to always have one of her best friends, one of those twins, by her side. What more could she want? GeorgexOCxFred; summary inside
1. Prologue

**Summary:**  
Meril Lizlow is known for getting into trouble, which is exactly what gets her sent off to Wizarding Boot Camp for two years. Now, she's back, but things have changed while she's been away. Follow Meril as she gets herself into trouble, fights, and hilarious situations; as she struggles with her emotions and tries to untangle herself from the web she's caught herself in--a web of lies she's told herself; a messy web of love.

Book One begins here....

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* * *

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**Prologue**

* * *

A near-fifteen-year-old brunette sat, silent, at her kitchen table, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She had just gotten back home late the night before—her first time back in two years. She couldn't help feeling that she was dreaming—that she wasn't really there. When she had gotten home, she had walked warily about the halls and then lay awake for hours in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, unable to sleep. If she slept, would she still be there when she woke? A sinking feeling fell in her stomach at the possibility.

She took a sip of her tea, relaxing her eyes and trying to do the same to the rest of her body. She was so tense—so on her guard for another, sudden change. She was afraid to get too comfortable again. Things always seemed to change.

She still remembered clearly how it had all happened. It was May of 1990—nearly three years prior—in Scotland. It was a Saturday, which meant a break in classes for the week. It was morning—a beautiful, sunny, clear morning—and she had been enjoying it with her friends out by the lake, when an older classmate, Amy Smith, purposefully bumped shoulders with her.

"Whoops, _sorry_ Meril," the older girl sneered.

As usual, Meril reacted a bit rashly. She excused herself from her friends and stalked over to Amy, incensed. Nobody, especially not _Amy Smith_, provoked her without retaliation, be it verbal, physical, or magical.

"Amy, Amy, Amy," Meril tutted, shaking her head. "Do you ever learn?"

Amy snorted. "Learn _what?_"

Meril closed her lips over the grin she couldn't suppress. By not answering the question at all, Amy had managed to answer it perfectly. She always had found the perfect ways to display her stupidity.

"Learn not to mess with me, _duh_." Meril had never had any qualms about standing up to others; in fact, she was often much too eager to do it.

"Ex_cuse_ me?"

"Stop acting stupider than you are, Amy. It isn't very becoming."

"I don't know how possible that is for her, Mer," one of Meril's friends joked, having come up behind the two girls.

"True that, Lee," Meril snickered.

Amy blinked at them. "What?"

The boy, Lee, rolled his eyes. "We just called you stupid, Amy. Get with it, will you?"

"Don't know if she can," a ginger haired boy chuckled along with his twin brother.

"Guys! Stop stealing my lines," Meril semi-whined; as tough and old as she liked to pretend she was, she was still only twelve years old and was, therefore, prone to moments of immaturity. "This is my fight."

"Fine, we'll just watch," the second redhead sighed. He stepped back, followed by his brother and Lee. Meril took a step closer to Amy. The elder looked down at the younger with the mask of power, but Meril was far more confident.

"Now, tell me, are you really sorry now?"

Amy scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Meril, you blow things way out of proportion. It was a bloody _bump!_"

"To you, maybe it was. But to _me_ it shows that you don't respect me, that you consider me someone who can just be pushed around. But let me tell you, that isn't true."

Amy looked down at wide eyes, thoroughly weirded out by Meril's threatening tone. "_And_ you read too far into everything. You're bloody insane," she whispered.

"That may be so," Meril said with a smirk, unfazed by the question of her sanity. "However, that's just the way I am, then."

"And you expect me to respect a crazy person?"

"Sometimes, I think that that is the best kind of person to respect."

Meril went to walk away but was stopped by a kick in the back of her legs. The blow sent her sprawling forward and she landed on her hands and knees.

Amy smirked and turned, about to walk away, when Meril, who had turned while Amy wasn't watching, lunged at the older girl's knees, causing her to fall on her face.

"Go Meril!" her friends cheered from the sidelines as they watched. Meril stood and proudly bowed before them. Amy took advantage of this moment and tackled her to the ground, tugging at her long brown hair.  
Meril writhed about on the ground, trying to throw the older girl off of her, but found that she couldn't. So, she instead proceeded to pummel her face with a fury of clenched fists.

"Dungbombs, Mer! Throw a dungbomb at her!" her friends chorused, but Meril paid no heed. There was no time for that now, even if she did have any on her.

Amy took her hands from Meril's hair and moved them to her face. Using her long nails she tore at the brunette's delicate, light skin until it became red.

Meril stopped punching the older girl's face and went to lift her leg, kneeing Amy in the gut; this action sent the blonde backwards, leaving her briefly on her back.

Meril got to her feet and gently rubbed her raw face, grimacing. The older girl had managed to break her skin. Meril tasted the iron in her mouth as the sweat and blood dripped down her face.

Things continued on in this way until both of them got tired of the bruises and the blood. Of course at this point the fight wasn't even near done; every action made the two girls more angry, causing the fight to just go on and on. Meril's friends had rallied a crowd, most of whom were rooting for Meril, since, though she was considered obnoxious by many, she was much more well liked than Amy.

"Okay. I suggest that we continue this thing like civilized witches," Amy panted. Meril gave a short nod, wiping the sweat from her forehead using the back of her hand. Wordlessly she wielded her long, curved wand; Amy did the same, a smirk on her face. Meril cocked an eyebrow in the other girl's direction, but Amy shrugged.

"It's nothing. I'm just excited, that's all. After all, I just recently learned a wonderful spell. One _you_ won't learn for another two years."

This remark caused a large intake of breaths to occur and some even called for Meril to forfeit. Amy, though surprisingly daft, was quite clever in school, as all Ravenclaws are, and was known to have some tricks up her sleeves.

Despite all of this, Meril shook her head. She knew many good spells to use, too, even if not as many. And even if she didn't win in the magic area of the fight, she won hands-down with the physical fighting. Meril looked at Amy's purple face and swollen leg with a sense of pride. She hadn't gotten even near that bad from Amy.

"Ready? Start!" Amy ordered. The two of them both said incantations and pointed their wand at each other. With more luck than skill, Meril avoided Amy's attack while her own hit the older girl full blast, turning her limbs into jelly, causing her to tumble to the ground.

Meril turned her back on Amy to face her supporters, grinning like a fool. "You don't have the time to turn your back on me," Amy grunted, struggling to sit up. She pointed her wand at Meril's small back, muttering an incantation under her breath.

Meril spun around, shocked that her opponent could move at all. And this time, she couldn't move in time to avoid the attack sent at her. So, she flew backwards, picking up grass and moss as she skidded across the Hogwarts property. Students fled to avoid Meril as she continued to slide farther and farther back. Whatever spell that had been, Meril hadn't heard, but it was definitely a powerful one.

It took a few moments for the younger girl to recover. When she did, she cradled her stomach as she limped back to the newly reformed ring of students; she shoved through the wall of bodies and returned to the center, her wand raised threateningly before her.

"_A_--_"_ Meril began lowly, slowly staggering closer and closer to her opponent.

"Stop right there!" Professor McGonagall snapped as she and little Professor Flitwick shoved through the students. McGonagall threw an arm before Meril, who tried to sputter some nonsense but failed miserably. So instead she stared at her Head of House in shock as everyone who had watched the fight slowly dispersed, with the exception of Lee and the twins.

"Mr. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, and Mr. Jordan—Go!" Professor McGonagall shrilly ordered at Meril's three friends, her pointer finger thrust outwards. The three frowned towards their female friend before scampering off, leaving Meril alone with the two professors and Amy.

"Miss Smith, I must say I am _quite_ disappointed with you. You were on the right path to being a Prefect, but I don't know what to do about that anymore," Flitwick squeaked, shaking his head sadly.

"I'm sorry, Professor," Amy apologized, head bent.

"Yes, yes. I'm afraid I'll still have to give you a punishment, though. But for now, please go to the Hospital Wing so Madam Comfrey can care for your injuries."

"Of course, Professor. Should I stop by your classroom later tonight?"

The little man shook his head ""I'll summon you when I need you. Now let me escort you to the Hospital Wing."

Amy smiled smugly at Meril before walking off towards the castle with her Head of House, leaving the younger of the two quite uncomfortable, alone with the Deputy Headmistress and Head of _her_ House.

"Miss Lizlow, I am sorry to say I am not at all surprised that this incident occurred," McGonagall sighed.

"I can't say I am either. Amy has been **pushing** me for _weeks_. I'm actually just surprised I stopped myself from doing this for as long as I did."

"No, Miss Lizlow, that is not what I am talking about. I'm saying that I'm not surprised that you got into a fight--again. However, I am surprised that you would go so far."

"She's the one who started it," Meril, outraged, pointed out.

"It doesn't matter who started it, Miss Lizlow. _You_ are the one who continued it. Now I'd give you a detention but I don't think that has any affect on you. So, instead, you will have a detention every Friday night for the rest of the year. Stop by my office tonight so we can discuss the rest of your punishment."

"But Professor—it was _one_ fight!" Meril protested.

The tight-haired, tight-lipped woman stopped walking, turned around, and sighed wearily. "No, Miss Lizlow. It wasn't just _one_ fight. Now go to the Hospital Wing. You need to be taken care of as well."

Meril grumbled a vague response before obeying her teacher and trudging off to the Hospital Wing, the only room in the castle she dreaded more than History of Magic.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril rapped her knuckles on the closed door to Professor McGonagall's office.

"Come in!" the woman called; Meril proceeded with caution. The door creaked as she pushed it open. McGonagall sat behind her desk, stiff as usual. This would not have bothered Meril at all if she had not seen the Headmaster standing beside her.

"Oh! Um...Good evening, Professor Dumbledore. How are you doing?"

"I am doing fine, thank you Meril. However, I think at the present moment you should currently be more concerned about yourself."

At these words, Meril's whole body tensed. "Wh-why? What's my punishment? I'm not expelled--**am** I?"

The two adults wildly shook their heads. "No, no!" Professor Dumbledore laughed. "It is not quite so severe!"

_It is not **quite** so severe,_ Meril repeated to herself, her stomach sinking.

"Then what is it?"

"Please--come sit down, Miss Lizlow," McGonagall sadly order, pointing at a chair in front of her desk; Meril slowly made her way to the chair and sat in it as stiff as a board.

"Miss Lizlow, we decided that the best thing in your situation would be..." McGonagall couldn't finish the thought, so Dumbledore, using his kind words and tone, finished for her.

"Meril, we decided that, after this year has finished, you should go to a Wizard's…shall we say, _resort_?"

"A resort isn't a punishment. What is it really?"

"Wizard's Reform Camp," Dumbledore corrected, the twinkle completely ridden from his normally sparkling, blue eyes.

Meril's stomach somehow managed to plummet even farther down. "Boot Camp?" she croaked.

"I suppose you could call it that, yes."

"For how long?"

"Well, we thought that two years should be sufficient. You need some space from here and the fights you get involved in," McGonagall replied.

"And Boot Camp will help?" At this point Meril felt numb to the conversation. She wasn't even shocked at how long she was to stay; she couldn't be.

"It will help you to restrain your impulses."

"But I didn't start t--"

"But you _have_ in the past!"

Meril slumped down in her seat, heaving a sigh. A long, dragged out silence followed. Meril fidgeted, not knowing whether or not the conversation was over. Eventually she managed to squeak, "What about my classes?"

"Oh don't worry about that! They provide classes every day--the same ones you have back here. The only thing is that you don't get electives--you take _every_ class. And you have longer days..."

Meril groaned. The classes she had at Hogwarts were bad enough. Longer days though, thrown on top of being somewhere she didn't want to be with no one she wanted to be with…it was a hard thing to imagine surviving. Impossible, really.

"What if...what if I get into no more fights for the rest of the year? What if I'm an angel and--"  
They both sadly shook their heads. "No, Miss Lizlow. This is for the best. But don't worry--you will be welcomed back with open arms when the two years are up!"

Meril grumbled something inaudible in response; neither of the adults said anything to her though. They must've understood the battle that was going on in her head; in her heart; in her stomach.

"I need some sleep," she announced, attempting to rise to her feet.

"Yes! Go rest, Meril," Dumbledore kindly said, offering his arm for her to take so that she could stand easier. "I'm sure you'll need to sort your thoughts. If you'd like you could take the day o--"

"No!" Meril near-snapped. "I'm not going to miss my classes. I'm making the most of the time I have here. Now… good evening."

And with that, Meril left the office and, in a dream-like trance, made her way back to her dormitory where she forced herself into an empty sleep.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"But that's all behind me now!" Meril, quite out of character, shouted to herself. It wasn't like herself to be so optimistic. And yet, there she was, throwing her fist in the air and talking to herself encouragingly. "Now I get to go back. Hogwarts was probably even more boring without me!" she smugly assured herself, sitting back down in her seat and smoothing down her baggy t-shirt.

"Without me...hm. I wonder what sort of entertainment they got while I was away. Fewer fights, no entertaining t-shirts…Of course they still got the twins and Lee..."

At the "boot camp," it seemed as if Meril was the only jokester. And, when she was transferred to the German wizarding school after a year because of her mother's job, that still didn't change.

"Meril! Come on, we need to go get your supplies!" Ms. Lizlow voice called down from the staircase. Meril sighed and stood. As much as she was looking forward to returning to Hogwarts, the change which, though she tried to deny it, she knew was waiting for her…it scared her. It scared her a lot.

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**a/n **okay, so, as I wrote in the author's note of chapter 31 (though if you are looking at the prologue you probably haven't gotten there) I am rewriting/ revising prologue-chapter twelve. So this is my first one at that. I hope you liked it. I didn't change much about this one, but hopefully it is better now. Feedback is great :)

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed :)


	2. Diagon Alley

**Chapter One—**  
Diagon Alley

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Meril landed heavily at the bottom of the fireplace in the _Leaky Cauldron_, the wizard pub that led to Diagon Alley.

Coughing, Meril got to her feet and brushed the soot off her clothes. She would never get used to traveling by Floo powder; nor would she get used to the soot invading her lungs, leaving her feeling congested for hours until she finally coughed it all up in black spurts.

Her mother arrived shortly after her, landing much more gracefully than her daughter had a moment before. She stepped out of the fireplace and aided Meril in wiping the soot from her clothes.

Looking up, she realized that her mom was used to it, which she hadn't been last time they had traveled by it which was...a little more than a year ago, probably. Back then, and always before than, too, she would cough and splutter just as much as her daughter; her clothes would be just as blackened as Meril's. Now, though, she had little more than a smudge on her hand.

Somewhere in that year at the German school, Mrs. Lizlow had gotten used to the Floo network. It was a small change, but it made Meril sad to realize she had missed more than just life at Hogwarts while she was gone. She had missed all of the small details—the inconsequential happenings—of her mother's life. While this must have been the case while she was at Hogwarts, too, somehow this struck her as more significant.

"Come on, Mer! Let's go!" Ms. Lizlow said breathlessly, pocketing her little hand mirror and the handkerchief she had used to wipe the soot from Meril's face.

The two Lizlows navigated of the dank, dimly lit pub to the back where the entrance to Diagon Alley lay. Three up, two across. Mrs. Lizlow tapped the brick with her wand. An archway appeared in the brick and she and her daughter walked through it, stepping out onto the busy street. Meril took a long whiff of the air; it smelt like home. And cookies.

"I've always loved Diagon Alley," Ms. Lizlow said wistfully, looking around with her bright blue eyes. "The hustle-and-bustle; the cheer; the stores."

"And the guys, right?" Meril added with a playful smile.

"Oh, you can't forget that part," Ms. Lizlow said with a laugh. "Unfortunately for me, though, they're all your age or my dad's age. And if they aren't, they aren't single."

The woman sighed, her face falling into a sort of despair. Meril looked at her mother and for the first time saw the wrinkles of age in her pretty face. Her mom had always seemed eternally young to her, like a school girl. She had never before seen any signs of age--let alone _middle_ age--on her perfect skin.

"Don't worry, Ma," Meril said awkwardly, draping her arm over her mom's shoulder. "There's someone--else--out there for you. You're bound to find him, if not here, today, then…well…some other time; maybe even some other place."

Ms. Lizlow looked at her daughter with doubt before smiling half-heartedly and shrugging off her daughter's arm. The two stood still for a moment longer, looking around at the familiar shops, taking it all in. It had been a while for both of them.

"First stop, the bank!" Meril's mother suddenly exclaimed. She smiled brightly at her soon-to-be-fifteen-year-old daughter and began walking towards the large, marble structure.

"Right-o!" Meril exclaimed in turn; she threw her fist in the air and marched forward, easily passing her mother, who laughed along behind her daughter, picking up the march quickly. As they moved down the street, the occasional person would stop and stare at them with odd expressions.

"Hello there, Melody! It has been quite a while since I've seen you around here!" a man Meril didn't recognize called out, stopping in his tracks to watch the two. While the older of the Lizlows immediately grew embarrassed and stopped, Meril just laughed, completely comfortable with herself and her funny little march.

"Mer, okay--Mer. Meril, sweetie, you can stop now," Ms. Lizlow whispered out of the side of her mouth before stepping forward to speak with the older wizard who had addressed her.

The words had no effect on the younger. As her mother made idle chitchat with her old acquaintance, Meril marched around in circles, enjoying herself as she stared up into the sky.

"Sweetie, I get that you love your independence and your....unique spirit, but if you don't stop you'll march right into the wall," Melody Lizlow warned her daughter, appearing suddenly beside her.

Meril stopped moving at once and looked down to find her face inches from the brick wall of one of the shops. She grinned sheepishly at her mother and proceeded to walk—normally—up the steep steps of Gringott's Bank.

Once up the stairs, the mother walked to the tall, imposing double doors; her thin hand hesitated over the handle. Meril sidled up beside her mother and rested her head on her shoulder. As she did so, her eyes caught site of the inscription on the door.

"_Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed_

_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn._

_So if you seek beneath our floors_

_A treasure that was never yours,_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there.''_

"Can you go inside by yourself? I just feel like sitting out her for a bit," Melody said huskily.

Meril raised her head and gave her mother an odd look. "Yeah, okay. Sure." Smiling softly, she heaved the heavy door open and stepped inside. She had to blink a few times before her eyes could adjust to the dim light. Then, taking a deep breath, she approached the counter.

"Hello," she greeted cheerily, doing her best not to shudder as she stared at the frightening goblins which surrounded her. "I need to get some money out of my vault."

The goblin peered down at her over his spectacles and past his long, pointed nose. "Do you have your key?" he asked; Meril inwardly shivered at the goblin's cold voice.

"Oh, um....hang on just one second."

The goblin merely blinked his dark, beady eyes in her direction and looked away, his interest in her having clearly already passed. Meril rushed back outside and found her mom just where she had left her--in front of the door.

"Ow, Meril!" Ms. Lizlow grumbled, stumbling backwards; she caught herself just before she fell down the stairs. "Watch it, will you?"

"Hey, it's your fault for standing outside the door like that."

"Humph. I give you that one. So, you got the money already? That sure was quick."

"I can tell by the way you stood there that you have _absolutely_ no idea how long I was gone; but no, I don't have the money. I need the key in order to do that. It seems that, in the time since I have been gone, we have both forgotten the protocol to procuring money from the bank."

"Yes, I never did give that to you, did I? Well, here you go!" Melody, ignoring her daughter's comment, procured a polished silver key from her pocket and placed it gently in Meril's hand. Meril closed her fingers around the cold metal and headed back inside.

"I have my key now! My mother is a bit absent-minded; we just got back from Germany and we're both a bit tired," she informed the goblin, though she was positive he really didn't care. Sliding the key across the desk, she added, "Meril Lizlow."

"Right. Follow me."

And so she did, though she was a bit reluctant in doing so. She had never traveled to the underground vaults without her mother and was a bit wary about being alone done there with a goblin that was _abnormally _unpleasant.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"I got the money; let's roll!"

Meril stood outside Gringotts holding a heavy pouch filled with galleons, sickles, and knuts. She still felt sick from the ride to the vault and back—another thing she'd never get used to—and her eyes were having trouble readjusting to the bright sunlight.

"Okay! Let's go get....books, I guess! Yes, let's get books!" Ms. Lizlow said, picking herself up off the ground.

Meril could tell by the streaks on her mom's cheeks that she had been crying. Again.

As usual, she had done her best in hiding it. She'd wiped away the mascara residue and flushed her eyes with water--from who knows where--so that you couldn't see the red. There was something that never looked right after she cried, though; she was paler, her hair was a mess, her eyes lost their sparkles--_something_. Meril could never quite place what it was, but their was a stark different between pre-crying and post-crying Mrs. Lizlow.

"Yeah, books sounds good. What do I need this year?" Meril said, choosing to pretend she hadn't notice, as usual.

"Hang on, let me check," her mother mumbled in response. She pulled her small purse out from under her arm and began digging through it, in search of the supply list she knew was in there _somewhere_. "Ah! Here it is!" She thrust the parchment at her daughter.

_(Grade 5) _

by Miranda Goshawk

_Potions and Drafts: A new Variety_ by Arsenius Jigger  
_Looking Back: A History on Magic and_

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY._

_UNIFORM.  
Fifth-year students will require:  
1. Three sets of work robes with the emblem of your house (black)  
standard uniform with a tie of your house colors  
plain pointed hat (black) for day wear.  
pairs of protective gloves (dragon hide or regular, color of your choice)  
winter cloak (color of your choice, silver fastenings)  
Please note that all children's clothes should carry name tags._

_COURSE BOOKS  
All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

_The Standard Book of Spells _by Miranda Goshawk  
_Potions and Drafts: A new Variety_ by Arsenius Jigger  
_Looking Back: A History on Magic and __Powerful Wizards and Witches_ by Ingrid North  
_The True Magical Theory_ by Adalbert Waffling Jr.  
_Transforming the Mind with Advanced Transfiguration_ by Spencer Hobartallion  
_What to do with Magical Plants and Fungi (With more plants and information than ever before!)_ by Madam Kaylynn Junglethorpe  
_Defending Yourself Against the Dark Arts and Creatures_ by Morris Thimble.

Some students will also require:  
_A Look into the Future: a Guide to Seeing Beyond_ by Bijou Terrance  
_Arithmancy for the Advanced (Volume 2)_ by Sir Chuffrey Gates  
_Care for the Mythical: A how-to Guide on taking care of those old childhood 'mythical' creatures_ by Sir William Gates

OTHER EQUIPMENT  
1 wand  
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 3)  
3 sets glass or crystal vials  
1 telescope  
2 sets brass scales  
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

"So...to Flourish and Blotts?" Meril said, looking up from the parchment to stare at her mother's face.

"To Flourish and Blotts!" Melody repeated. The two set off back down the steps to rejoin to large variety of wizards and witches who traipsed along the cobblestone streets.

They easily fit into the crowd of people. But more than that, they felt at home. Finally, Meril could _breathe_ again. For the past year (or really more for Meril) they had been surrounded by people they were absolutely positive they knew nothing about—strangers. All she wanted to do since she had gotten out of school for the summer was get together with the twins and Lee, but her mom wouldn't let her leave Germany to go see them, saying she would just have to wait until they moved back, and so she was stuck walking around Germany, feeling tense, annoyed, and suffocated.

It was as if she was a _muggle_.

Meril shuddered at the thought. She couldn't imagine how they functioned. And how narrow-minded they had become! They just couldn't believe that there was magic in the world. It was even coming to the point that the children, who were usually so eager to believe in mermaids, unicorns, and magic itself, were becoming doubtful. All because the adults turned their noses up at it and--in a few families' cases--wouldn't allow the children to think about such 'nonsense'.

"Idiots," Meril mumbled to herself, running a hand through her brown hair.

"I beg your pardon?" Ms. Lizlow said in turn, not having heard what her child said.

"Nothing; just thinking again."

"About Muggles?" Melody said with a smirk.

"...Maybe."

Mrs. Lizlow laughed out loud. "Meril, I have told you already--you aren't living like a muggle at the house. Well, okay, so maybe you are a bit, but that's because you're underage and I'm busy."

"You're _always_ busy!" Meril moaned.

"That's because I have a job, okay? Once you have a job, you'll understand." Ms. Lizlow said the words with such finality that Meril didn't dare argue. Yes, the adolescent was known for her argumentative personality, but that was a trait she had acquired through her mother, so she didn't even bother trying.

"Okay, we're here. Now stop whatever thoughts you're thinking about me and let's go get those books."

Meril found it amazing how easily her mom read her mind.

"I hope they aren't out of the books you need by now," the older of the two mumbled, shoving her daughter into the shop. "It's so late in the season! I'm sorry we got home from Germany so late."

As soon as they entered someone rushed over to help them get their books. Meril smiled at the man before glancing down at the list and reading off all the ones she needed.

"Fifth year, are you?" he inquired as Meril followed him to some shelves in the back. "I've gotten a lot of those in here today. Ah, here you are! _Transforming the Mind with Advanced Transfiguration_. I haven't read it myself, but I heard it's good. Now what else is on that list?"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril found her mom chatting it up with a man just about her age in the Arithmancy section. His neat golden-blonde hair hung in his hazel eyes. In the short time she observed them, Meril noticed he smiled at her mother often, and when he did wrinkles formed at the sides of his eyes and dimples formed in his cheeks—her mom loved dimples and hazel eyes and well managed hair. It took Meril only about a nanosecond to realize that the man standing there was her mother's dream guy.

"Um, Mom?" Meril interrupted, slowly approaching the two.

She stared at the man, half-expecting him to say the typical line of 'Mom?! You're too young to have a child!'

He didn't.

Instead he smiled in Meril's direction then turned back to her mother and said, "So this is your daughter?"

Melody Lizlow grinned in return and nodded, tucking her dark hair behind her ear. She looked young again, like a typical teenage girl flirting with the cutest guy in school.

"Yeah, this is Meril."

"It's nice to meet you, Meril. I'm Spencer Chatham."

"Hey Mr. Chatham," Meril greeted, nodding in his direction. Turning back to her mom, she said, "Ma, they're going to hold the books here until we're done shopping, okay? I have my name on them and they're paid for and everything. He doesn't want to hold them long so I really think we should get going..."

"Oh! Oh, yes! Of course! Well, you just go outside and I'll be right there!"

Meril did as she was told, since she was an obedient child when it came to her mother. Well, mostly. She still spied on her mom, despite the fact that she knew she had been sent outside so the two could have some privacy.

Meril watched as the man took her mother's hand, bent down to it, and kissed it gently. Melody practically fell over from shock. She smiled brightly at the man--who smiled so warmly in return Meril swore she saw her mom swooning--gave a little wave, and walked out of the store.

Meril quickly positioned herself on the bench so it would look as if she hadn't been spying.

It didn't work.

Mrs. Lizlow walked out of the store and walked right past her daughter, saying as she past, "I saw you."

Meril didn't know if her mom had actually seen or just assumed that she had watched, but it didn't matter. Either way it meant that there would only be one ice cream cone after the shopping was over.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"I have to say, that is probably the most ridiculous cloak you have ever forced me to buy you!" Melody laughed, licking her ice-cream cone. "Probably also the most expensive, too."

"Hey, at least my uniform from two years ago still fits me!" Meril said in defense. "That saved a pretty penny!"

"Yeah; you should thank my genes that you're small, otherwise you'd be dead right now," her mom joked, though the worry on her face was evident. She was always worried about her daughter's small size.

They sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying the fresh air, until Ms. Lizlow spoke up again.

"Of course, you did insist upon getting several pairs of protective gloves, so I really don't know how alive you still are..."

"I do appreciate your jokes, Ma, really. I mean, who wouldn't want a joke about their life, right?"

"Oh, you know I'm just kidding! I love buying things for you!" Melody Lizlow said, hugging her daughter.

"No you don't."

"Okay, so I don't. But still!"

"Yeah...I don't really trust you anymore."

"I'm offended," said Ms. Lizlow without much fervor.

"Yeah, I can tell."

"So...anyway." Ms. Lizlow licked the drippings of ice cream off her fingers before continuing. "Do you think you have enough money left for the year? You know...Hogsmeade and all..."

"I'm sure I do. If I don't I'll just write you and hope I get a reply within the year."

"Ha ha. Very funny, Mer," her mom sneered; Meril grinned.

"I know; I'm just so hilarious."

"Yeah, yeah. So let's get going, okay?"

"I'm certainly ready to leave."

"Good!"

The two Lizlows stood up, pushed in their chairs, and walked off down the street, their bags of items in tow.

As they passed by Flourish and Blotts, Meril realized that they didn't have the books. She turned towards the door and said to her mom, "I'll get the books. You just meet me at the Leaky Cauldron, alright?"

"Okay! See you there!"

Meril re-entered the bookstore and head right up to the counter. "Meril Lizlow," she told the young woman sitting there; the cashier stared inquiringly at Meril, not having been there earlier when Meril left the books.

The adolescent sighed heavily. "I left books here to be picked up under the name of 'Meril Lizlow.' Could I have them please?"

"Oh, yes! Of course!" the woman squeaked. With great difficulty, she lifted Meril's bag of books and handed them to her.

"Thanks for your business!" the wiry-haired woman chirped as Meril turned to leave.

The teen grumbled something in response as she heaved the books to the door. She stood there for a moment, contemplating how she would open the door without having to put the bag down, when she heard her name being shrieked from behind her.

"Meril!" said two people simultaneously; one was a guy while the other, judging by the screech, was clearly a girl.

"Oh my gosh, it's totally you!" the girl squealed. The next thing Meril knew, she was being hugged from behind.

"It's been so long! I've missed you! You barely said anything in those letters of yours!"

Meril turned and smiled at her old friend, Heather Scarlet. She hadn't changed at all over the years, except maybe getting even bustier. She was still gorgeous, still blonde, and still too perky.

"Hey Heather," Meril greeted, hugging the blonde tightly. She had known Heather practically all of her life and had missed her dreadfully. "How've you been?"

"I've been fine! What about you? When'd you get back from Germany?"

"Um, just yesterday actually."

"Why so late?!" Heather shrieked, appalled.

"Well, my mom was still busy--"

"--as usual," Heather interrupted; the two friends shared a grin. Heather was fully aware of how often Melody Lizlow got tied up with work.

"I'm glad I ran into you. I've missed you all so much!" Meril groaned.

"Oh my gosh, I've missed _you_," Heather said again, hugging Meril tightly. "It totally stinks that I moved back in first year, right? Otherwise we would've seen you yesterday, and we could've brought over the twins and Lee--"

"How are they?" Meril earnestly interjected; Heather stared at her pleading face and found herself shocked. She had never seen that look on Meril's face before in her _life_.

"Um, they're um....good, I guess. Still up to their mischief, though it isn't the same without you and your fights. Anyway! I feel totally and completely selfish now! I've been keeping you all to myself when Oliver is right here!"

"Hey, Wood!" Meril greeted, smiling sloppily and staring at the older guy; he smiled awkwardly back. "How've you and the team been?"

"Great. We've been doing great!"

"That's...great. Um, I really should be going. My mom's waiting for me at the Leaky Cauldron. We just got finished shopping. I'll see you guys soon, okay?"

Meril hugged Heather again and then awkwardly hugged Oliver, too. She then waved and turned back to the door, still unsure how to navigate it. Oliver hurried forward and opened it for her.

"Thanks, Wood. You're the best!" she exclaimed, smiling brightly at him. She smiled at Heather—who had tears streaming down her beaming face—once more before trudging her books down to the Leaky Cauldron.

"What took you?" Ms. Lizlow demanded, hands on her hips as if she was actually upset.

"Heather," Meril replied, and it explained it all.

* * *

**a/n **there is the rewrite of Chapter One! For most of them I am not really going to be doing much, just making some things sound nicer and getting rid of things I find unecessary. The content is really the same. But I hope you liked it all the same. I certainly feel much better about it now.

Rewiews are always appreciated!

xox


	3. Reunited

**Chapter Two—**  
Reunited

* * *

The night before Meril was to return to Hogwarts, she slept outside in a tent. She brought with her a sleeping bag, a book, three lanterns, several water bottles, and so many pillows that she could completely surround herself with them. Outside, she set up her telescope beside the tent so that she could look up at the stars when it was pitch black and all she could see were the stars.

Meril had a very nice telescope; her mom had bought it for her a couple of years ago because she knew how much her daughter loved astronomy. It was operated so that it found the specific star you wanted for you. Although Meril got frustrated with it constantly, it was pretty neat. No, scratch that, _really_ neat. She had to do no work but she still got to enjoy looking at the stars. And, if she wanted to, she could always just turn the system off and look around for herself, though she rarely felt that way.

So after growing tired of the stars she crept into her tent and buried herself in the comfort of her sleeping bag. Her book, thick and unopened, beckoned her. She could hear it calling her voice. But her eyes were too heavy—too tired to read. She brushed her fingertips over the glossy cover, as if promising to open it some other day, and promptly fell asleep.

At some point while she was sleeping, her mom came out wearing a blanket as a shawl and carrying two more with her. She crawled into the tent and spread the blankets over her daughter, knowing that her daughter would awake if she got too cold, and it was a cold night.

"Thanks Mommy," Meril whispered in her sleep, smiling slightly. She reached forward and stroked her mother's face tenderly. Melody Lizlow smiled and kissed her daughter's soft cheek; it had been years since she had called her Mommy. She missed it.

"Sleep tight, Mer," she whispered, squeezing the girl's hand; with that, she exited.

That night, Meril dreamt of her childhood. Only, in her dream, they lived up in the stars where they slept on books, and there were two ginger-haired fellows who seemed to watch over everything. At their presence, Meril a sense of peace she had never before known, while Heather found herself in a state of constant annoyance.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril woke up smelling like the night. She had never really known what the night smelled like, but she loved it. Maybe it was a mixture of wood, wet, and flowers, possibly even calm--who knows how. She always wished that she could bottle it up in a perfume bottle and spray it on herself every day. But, since she couldn't, it was just her natural perfume--for the day. Once she showered again, or hung out with people too long, it'd be gone, and she'd be annoyed. The night never smelt the same anywhere, and she'd never be able to capture the scent of her backyard at Hogwarts. She could, of course, always try during potions class, but she didn't think Snape would be too happy. Then again, he never was.

"Meril! Come on, time for breakfast! You don't want to be late, do you?"

Meril flung all the blankets off of her and struggled to get to her feet, nearly dismantaling her tent as she hurled herself through the flap. She ran past her mom, who watched her with a bemused expression, and into the house. Quickly she changed into her school uniform, to avoid wasting any time on the train, and made sure she had everything packed up in her trunk. As she went through her mental checklist, she carelessly brushed her hair and pulled it up into a sloppy ponytail.

"Is my cloak downstairs?" Meril shouted out her bedroom door.

"You mean that clown outfit? Yes! Now come down and eat some breakfast!"

She didn't need to be told twice. Throwing her brush down on her dresser, she sped down the stairs and slid into the kitchen on her socks. Her mom stood at the stove, hand-making some eggs. Melody Lizlow always made her food the Muggle way, because, by taking her time, it showed she cared, putting a little bit of love in every bite.

_Or something weird like that,_ Meril added to herself, sliding carefully into one of the old kitchen chairs. She was afraid that, one day, the rickety chair would collapse right under her. It wouldn't be surprising if it did; they were a wobbly set of chairs and, since they had been bought second hand, had probably been through their share of fat people.

"So today we have scrambled eggs with pepper, and cheese, sausage, and buttered toast," Melody said as she placed a plate before her daughter.

"Now tell me, Melody," Meril began, piercing a slice of sausage with her fork, " were these sausages made with love in every bite?"

"Nope. They were made with hate."

"Why?"

"Because you're leaving me! The house will be so lonely without you!" Melody whined. Sometimes she acted more Meril's age than Meril did.

"That's because no one will ever be in it," Meril replied. She took a bite of the sausage and must have died, because she found herself in heaven.

"See, Ma? Made with hate and still delicious. I bet if you made it with magic, it would have the same results."

"Nah, must just be some sort of spoof."

"Oh yes, that must be it," Meril replied sarcastically.

"It is!" Melody insisted. It was useless trying to get her mother to convert to the wizarding ways of cooking. Her mother believe whole-heartedly in standing there, doing everything with her own hands. She only let her wand assist in time of dire need.

"Oh, I believe you!" Meril took a bite of the eggs. "These made with hate, too?"

Ms. Lizlow shook her head. "Nope. Love."

"Wait...why on earth would you make sausage with hate and eggs with love?"

"I felt like it," Meril's mom replied indifferently.

"I think you're lying to me."

"Like I would do that!" Ms. Lizlow said defensively. Upon seeing her daughter's blank stare, she looked away and muttered, "Okay, so maybe I would, but still! That's so not the point!"

"Oh, and what is the point?"

"The point is that I made you breakfast, am going to take you to King's Cross Station, and them am going to clean up after your mess outside!"

Meril blinked in her mother's direction. "Yeah, I don't get it," she joked, stuffing another sausage link into her mouth.

"Leave me alone; I'm tired. You know I don't make any sense when I'm tired."

"Ma, you don't make any sense when you aren't tired, either."

"Oh _Merlin_, what did I do to deserve such a child?"

"I did hear you," Meril said, feigning hurt, though she really didn't mind at all. She and her mother always joked around with each other. At times she could forget that Melody was her mother—forget their difference in age—and just believe that they were two good friends who had always known each other.

"Good. Now at least you know how I feel, though I doubt your actions will change in any way."

"You sure do know me well."

Ms. Lizlow sighed, dropping her fork down on her plate. "I do wonder what happened to you. You used to be such a...sweet child. And then you hit ten and it was like...BAM! The devil-spawn." Then there were comments like this that made Meril immediately remember what their official relationship was.

Meril furrowed her brow, thinking. She remembered slightly the days where she had been a happy, sweet, little girl who wore sun dresses and pig-tails. Then when she was ten, she...

"I met the Weasley twins," Meril replied. "They corrupted me." She then burst out laughing. "No, I don't know what happened really."

"No, I think you got it right there. It was those blasted twins..."

Meril stared at them, wide eyed. "You aren't going to hurt them, are you?"

It was Melody's turn to burst out laughing. "What, are you kidding? Those two are bloody _hilarious_! I would never hurt them!" She paused and then added darkly, "Unless they hurt you."

Meril laughed uneasily. She didn't like that threatening tone in her mom's voice. It was scary and didn't belong on her kind face.

The adolescent quickly shoveled down the rest of her breakfast, suddenly desperate to get away from her mom and the uneasy atmosphere she had created with her words. As soon as her plate was cleared, she dumped her dishes in the sink and sprinted back up to her bedroom,

"What does she mean 'unless they hurt me'. What could those two...**_goons_** do to me?! They're totally harmless!"

Her words didn't bring any comfort to her though. To the contrary, they made her feel even worse. The churning in her stomach, the twitching of her eyes—they were both signs that showed she was lying.

Shaking off the feeling, Meril continued with the task at hand. She bent down and grabbed onto her trunk's handle and then slowly dragged it down the hall to the stairs. From there, she was helpless. There was no way she could drag her heavy trunk down without getting run over and causing damage to the more..._delicate_ items she had packed away. Also, everything would probably be dirty if the trunk got jostled a lot. Dung-bombs were very easily set off— Meril had discovered that the hard way.

"Hey, Ma! Can you come magic my trunk downstairs?" Meril called over the railing. She heard her mom groan somewhere below before grunting acceptance of the task. A moment later she trudged up the stairs, wand in hand.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_," Melody recited, flicking her wand at the trunk. It was lifted into the air and Melody "carried" it along beside her as she carefully descended the stairs. She didn't want to go to fast just in case the trunk jerked ahead and smashed into a wall—something which _she_ had learned to be cautious of the hard way.

Once at the bottom of the stairs, Mrs. Lizlow turned back to her daughter and asked, the trunk still floating beside her, "Do you think you can get it out to the car by yourself?"

Meril pretended to contemplate this for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. I think I'll manage. Me strong girl, yah!" she grunted, flexing her imaginary muscles at her mother.

Melody snorted, trying her hardest not to start laughing. "Good. Now if you don't mind, I myself must finish packing."

Meril cocked an eyebrow and stopped her descent down the stairs. "What for?"

"I'm going to Ireland with work."

"When?"

"Tomorrow, but I want to be ready."

"Okay. Just don't take too long. I'm anxious to get going."

Her mom laughed lightly. "I bet you are."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril wandered aimlessly around her small house, taking it all in. She had spent so long away, and then she barely had gotten a chance to be there. It seemed much too soon to be leaving. With a slight pang in her heart, she closed her bedroom door.

"Okay! I'm ready!" her mother shouted.

Meril didn't say anything in reply; she had made it back and downstairs and was too busy staring at a moving photo on the mantel. It was her and Heather, probably five years old, playing in the sand at some beach. The wind was whipping their hair and the tide was coming awfully close to where they sat in their cover-ups, making sand castles.

"See what I meant by your innocent days?"

Ms. Lizlow's whisper startled Meril; the teenager jumped out of her skin and whirled around, holding her heart.

"**God!**" she screeched, breathing heavily.

Melody smiled teasingly at her daughter's reaction. Running her hand through her daughter's hair, she scanned the mantelpiece as well, losing herself in the memories displayed there.

Meril shook her head and looked back at the picture. She and Heather were giggling cheerfully, their skin tinged pink from the sun's rays. Meril smiled weakly at the photo. She had almost forgotten about that blissful day.

She then turned her attention to the photo next to it. She was twelve and frowning. Her eyes were red and glossy, as if she were about to cry, though Meril and her mom both knew she wouldn't. On either side of her, with their arms draped over her shoulders, were Fred and George, winking and trying to lighten the mood. Lee sat at their feet, laughing rancorously, though Meril remembered doubting its sincerity.

That memory hurt. She would have remembered when it was taken even if she hadn't been able to make out King's Cross station in the background. Meril quickly looked away from the mantel and towards her mother, suddenly eager to leave.

"I'm ready," she said. Ms. Lizlow nodded and grabbed her daughter's hand, making Meril feel about seven years old. For the moment—and _only_ for the moment—though, she didn't mind. Her mother's touch reminded her of where she was now and what she had to look forward to.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril kissed her mom good-bye at the platform barrier and then barreled right through. She instantly felt calmer as she joined in on the hustle-and-bustle of Hogwarts students running around.

Hoping no one had seen her walk onto the platform, she slipped her cloak onto her shoulder, pulled the hood up over her eyes, and pushed her trolley towards the train. She didn't know her reason, but the urge to be disguised had suddenly come over her. With some difficulty, she heaved her weighty trunk onto the train and dragged it down to an empty compartment. Leaving it sitting in the middle of the floor, she collapsed into a window seat and pressed her forehead against the cool glass.

Meril easily grew bored, sitting all alone in the train. She couldn't just sit there for...who knew how long! She hadn't a clue what time it was, all she knew was that she was early—too early to just sit there alone. While she was waiting, she had to _do_ something. She had to **see** someone!

Unsurely, she stood and made her way into the corridor. People gave her funny looks as they passed her by in the hallway, most probably because of the hood hanging over her eyes.

Meril had hoped to see a friend when she stepped into the corridor, but no such luck. All she saw were new faces, and some old ones she didn't particularly care for.

She almost went back into the compartment but decided against it, instead stepping back onto the platform to wait for someone to pass by. Heather, Oliver, Lee, or _Fred and George_…Surely someone would pass by.

The twins were the two she was most looking forward to seeing. She had missed them so much she was ashamed to admit it. Maybe that was why she felt so weird that, when she caught a glimpse of their trademark red hair, she ducked away, afraid they'd see her face.

Okay, so maybe she should reunite with Heather--again--or Lee first. Though Lee would most likely be with the twins… Or even Oliver! She didn't care! Just...someone. Someone she wanted to see but wasn't as eager about seeing. She needed to be eased back into it, otherwise she'd probably burst into a fit of tears when seeing the twins again, which was something she just _didn't do_. She had only cried once since her dad died, and she wasn't about to do it again. It was an action she rather loathed.

"Mer! Mer? Oh yes, it _is_ you! I could barely tell what with that hood covering your face and all!"

It was Heather.

The blonde girl beamed at seeing her friend again and wrapped her arms around her in a warm embrace. Meril felt suffocated by Heather's hug, but said nothing. It was, after all, wonderful seeing her--again--after two years.

"Are you in a compartment yet?" Heather asked, moving her arms from around Meril's middle to drape them over her shoulders.

"Actually, yeah."

"Okay! I'll just move my stuff from mine then into yours."

"Oh you don't have to do that," Meril said hurriedly.

"Nonsense, Mer! I _want_ to. I wanna sit with you."

"Yeah, but I could just move my stuff. I'm sure you want to sit with other people besides me."

"Actually, I don't really care. Besides, I'm sure at least three more people will be joining you in yours, unless I'm mistaken. You and the guys didn't get into a fight in your letters or anything, did you?" Heather raised her finely arched brows, a quizzical look on her face.

"Wh-what?! No, of course not!"

"Didn't think so. I'll just go get my stuff and come join you in yours."

"Are you sure you don't want me to--"

**"Positive**. Besides, I'm sitting with a bunch of people you don't care for anyway. And to be quite honest, I don't like them all that much myself."

Heather then flashed her charming smile at Meril and grabbed her hand. "Come on then." The two walked onto the train together and parted at the corridor, their compartments at different ends.

Meril reclaimed her spot at the window and stared out, pressing her forehead against the cool glass. Everything was so still here. Looking at it, the Lizlow girl had to wonder whether any of it was alive at all. She thought she heard the wind blowing, but the tall grass remained completely unmoved, unaffected by the nature around it.

"I'm back!" Heather chirped, sliding the compartment door open. She left her trunk beside Meril's and sat in the seat across from her, red fabric sitting on her lap.

Meril lazily turned her gaze from the field to her friend. She noticed the scarlet fabric on her lap, looked down at it, and then back at Heather.

"What's that?" she asked.

"My cloak."

"Well," Meril impatiently began, "put it on!"

Heather hesitated before slipping into it. Unlike Meril, she left the hood down--probably so her hair wouldn't get messed up. Meril scanned her eyes over it and a grin spread across her face.

"Me likes," she declared, nodding her head.

Heather smiled softly back. "Yeah, well...thanks. Yours is nice, too, in a weird sort of way. It looks good on you."

Meril cocked her eyebrow. "Oh? Are you insinuating something?"

Heather laughed, shaking her head. "No, no! I'm just saying that..."

"No, I understand, Heather," Meril said seriously, shutting her friend up before she began sputtering, which she had a tendency of doing.

"Thank you," Heather breathed, relieved.

The two friends were then silent for a moment, neither moving, just staring at one another awkwardly. Then, suddenly, Heather screamed, "Oh my gosh I'm so glad you're back!"

"Me, too!" Meril squeaked in reply.

Heather practically tackled Meril in her seat and the two sat, laughing so hard they could barely breathe, until their compartment door was slid open again and the train began to move.

"Are we interrupting something?" an all-too familiar voice asked.

Meril's head shot up and she stared at the doorway, happiness swelling inside her. She could feel her stomach doing somersaults and her pulse quickening. Heather saw her friend growing antsy and backed off, allowing the small brunette to jump up and move to the door.

"Fred! George! Lee!" she squeaked, standing before them; her arms hovered out before, twitching to envelop them all in a life-squeezing hug.

Before she could even decide to hug them, however, she was bombarded by a sea of arm as Fred, George, and Lee all at once came and hugged her.

"Welcome back," whispered either Fred or George, or maybe even both. Whoever it was, their tone was serious, which both surprised and touched Meril. A whimper escaped her mouth as, trembling, she wrapped her arms around whoever it was directly in front of her, unable to touch them all.

And as she stood there, just breathing them in, all she could think was:_ Reunited at last._

_

* * *

_

**a/n **So, that was the rewrite of Chapter Two! I really barely changed anything, but hopefully it is better now :) I am so happy to be getting this done. I am just really dreading rewriting Chapter Seven...that one needs SERIOUS work. That one is the cause of some bad reviews. And it is a stupid chapter, I admit it. There is just one scene I love in it :) Ugh, and I am also afraid I am going to make it all more than 152 pages. Prologue-Ch. 12 took up 152 pages and I don't want it to exceed that now because then I would have to reprint EVERYTHING for my friend, who I print it all for...and now I'm just babbling. Anyway! Wish me luck!! I am pretty verbose so I'll need it!

Thanks for reading!

xox


	4. On the Hogwarts Express

**Chapter Three—  
**On the Hogwarts Express

* * *

"You smell good," George commented once the hug had ended and Meril had extricated herself from the web of arms.

"Yeah," Fred agreed. "Some new perfume?"

"No...It isn't new," George argued. "She smelt like this sometimes back when...well, you know, a while ago. Anyway, I remember this scent."

Fred dismissed George's logic with a wave of the hand and awaited Meril's answer, staring at her expectantly with widened eyes. Meril glanced over at Heather, her own eyes clearly asking: _What happened to these two while I was gone? _

Heather shrugged, laughing to herself.

Having gotten no help from the other girl, Meril merely turned back to the boys and answered quite simply, "I'm not wearing perfume."

"Oh? Then what is it?" Fred inquired. He leaned forward to take a whiff of her hair and smiled. "Smells...interesting."

Meril laughed, shoving Fred away playfully. "It's called sleeping outside," she explained.

"I'd like to try that," George said playfully, looking over at Lee with a raised brow. Lee, grinning, nodded in agreement.

"What happened to you two while I was gone?" Meril laughed, reclaiming her seat at the window. The three boys weaved around the two trunks sitting _conveniently_ in the middle of the compartment and sat down before shrugging.

"I tried to warn you," Heather whispered in Meril's ear.

"What?! No you didn't!" Meril laughed.

Heather shrugged. "Okay, so maybe I didn't."

"You're such a liar sometimes." Meril rolled her eyes and turned back towards the boys, a smile unconsciously breaking across her face.

"I'm hurt," Heather pouted.

"Liar," Fred teased. He leaned forward and poked her playfully in the stomach.

"So," George began after a moment's silence. He cleared his throat. "Might I say that those are probably the stupidest cloaks I have **ever** seen."

"Oh you're just jealous!" Meril exclaimed, smiling lightheartedly at him.

"Of what?" George snorted. "I don't quite care to look like some giant fish has swallowed me, thank you."

Meril fingered the blue fabric of her large cloak and frowned, looking hurt.

"Oh come on! Of what? What am I jealous of?" George pursued, not seeming to notice

"The fact that you could never look as good as us in these ridiculous things," Meril countered smugly. Mind, she didn't really think the cloaks were ridiculous—in fact, she quite liked them. But George's opinion had been made clear and she was just playing with it.

But George knew what she said was right; Fred and Lee knew it too. They all knew it. Heather was the type of girl who could pull off any look. She could roll out of bed and still look stunning. And Meril exuded a kind of confidence which made everyone believe that she looked amazing, even if she didn't really.

The three boys simultaneously looked away, afraid that somehow the two girls would read their common though.

"So how was the boot life?" Lee cheerfully asked Meril, eagerly changing the topic.

Meril's face turned from happy to grim in a matter of seconds. Boot Camp was a subject she would have been happy to avoid. She hesitated for a few moments, playing with her ponytail, before sighing and finally giving in.

"It was...well, it wasn't the easiest thing in the world. We had to take _every single_ class. And there was usually homework in them all. Then, when we weren't having classes or shoveling down a meal in fifteen minutes, we were tested."

"On what?" Fred asked, horrified by the very prospect of this camp.

"Restraining ourselves. You know, our impulses to fight or whatever. We were put in situations and had to deal with them appropriately. And we didn't always know we were being tested. Sometimes we thought that it was real because it was during a "relaxation" time and they used our peers to initiate it. That happened to me a lot...For the longest time I...well, I didn't do so well on those tests." Meril blushed.

"You did have quite the temper," George recalled almost wistfully.

"That only started when she met you three," Heather pointed out, smirking slightly. "I've known her since she--well, _we_--were in diapers. She was the sweetest little thing," the blonde cooed, causing Meril to scowl.

"But, yeah. After a while I caught on and now some of the behavior has rubbed off on me. The teachers declared that I went from the absolute worst student--a terror, they actually called me--to the quickest learner. That's why they allowed me to get pulled out after one year, with permission from Dumbledore, of course, and let me go to Germany with me mum."

"Did you mention that in your letters?" Lee asked, his face pinched in concentration as he tried to recollect any mentioning of Germany in the letters he had received.

"I'm sure I did," Meril replied, losing interest in the whole subject. "I doubt I wouldn't be complaining about how I barely understood a word they said. Did I ever tell you that, eventually, they got so annoyed with my lack of understanding that they put some sort of spell—oh, I wish I knew what it was, but I'd never heard of it before—on me **_every day_** to make it sound that everyone was speaking English. Of course their accents were still heavy so sometimes I _still_ couldn't decipher what was being said--you all know me and my lack of skill in that area--and the teachers got so annoyed, as well as the students, that they came close to throwing things at me. One actually did a couple times. It was actually quite funny." Meril laughed lightly, staring at the compartment's roof.

"What'd they throw?" George inquired, truly curious, as Heather said at the same time, "I remember you telling me all of this," in a bored voice.

"All sorts of things," Meril replied, smiling. "Books, wands, chairs, chalk...."

"Chalk?" Fred incredulously asked.

"Yup. He liked using real chalk."

"Yeah, yeah. That's all fine and dandy, Mer, but why don't you tell them about your friends," Heather interjected, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"I didn't have any friends in Germany," Meril replied, frowning.

"Not _there_. At the boot camp," Heather said, eyes sharp.

"Oh, them. Yeah, well I had two friends at the boot camp. A boy and a girl. Sienna was the girl--she was...well, she liked cursing, that was for sure. She actually started out as my enemy and then...I don't know. We bonded and...yeah. I still write to her. She was great. Really funny at times."

"And the guy?" Heather urged.

The three boys looked at her curiously, but Heather did nothing but smile cynically.

"Oh, his name was Paulo--" Meril began indifferently.

"_Paulo!_" Heather shrieked. "You told me his name was Ste--"

Meril kicked Heather meaningfully in the shin; the blonde stopped mid-word, mouthing her agony. After regaining her composure, she said bitterly, "Oh. I must be thinking of some _other_ boot-camp attending friend."

"Yes, you are," Meril said, glaring. She cleared her throat and then continued, "Anyway! Paulo. Yeah, he was kind of like you three, only to a lesser extent. He got in trouble for constantly goofing off--he came from a strict school. Yeah, at the Boot Camp his goofing off was even less tolerated. If the teachers heard you say one measly joke...it was off with your head!"

The boys were appalled; their jaws fell and their eyes boggled. That would be a true nightmare for them; it had been pretty horrifying for _Meril._

"Not literally of course," she quickly added. "My head would be gone and I wouldn't be sitting here today if that was true."

Heather smiled. "Yeah, she told me about some of her jokes. She goofed off in another way, too. Hanging out with someone when she should have been running around, right?"

"You're thinking of your other friend again, Heather," Meril said tiredly.

_God, why does she keep bringing up Steve?! Does she **not** get that I don't want to talk about him?! Especially not in front of these guys..._

"Heather, who else do you know that went to Boot Camp?" Lee asked quite daftly.

Meril looked back out the window, removing herself from the discussion. After Heather finished entertaining the boys with made-up answers to their questions, silence fell over the compartment, something that didn't usually happened with two Weasleys and a Jordan present.

"So!" Meril exclaimed suddenly when she was satisfied the topic had truly ended. She rubbed her hands together and looked around. "What happened at the school when I left? Same old, same old? You guys never really answered that question in the letters..."

Meril's four friends exchanged uneasy glances. They mouthed at each other, trying to decide who should be the one to deliver the bad news. When George, who seemed to have lost the battle, turned to face her, his face grim, Meril lost all hope that Hogwarts had been the as usual.

"Meril," the twin began slowly, "Hogwarts changed a _lot_ after you left."

Lee, who had come in third in the little match, continued, "Like your first year gone, there was the thing called the Sorcerer's Stone hidden in the school. It has this--"

"I know what it is," Meril impatiently interrupted.

"Right. Well, You-Know-Who, he was sharing a body with Professor Quirrel--"

Meril gave out a laugh. "Him?"

"Yeah, him," Fred said grimly.

Becoming annoyed that he couldn't finish his story, Lee finished it up without taking a breath so there was no room for interruption. "So he was sharing Quirell's body and tried to get the Sorcerer's Stone using him so that he could return to power. But before he could, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and this Muggle-born girl Hermione Granger stopped him. For the first time in seven years Gryffindor won the House cup." Lee then took a deep breath and fell back against his seat, exhausted by the effort.

Tight lipped, Meril managed to force out her next question. "And last year?"

It was Fred's turn apparently. "You-Know-Who came back again, but in his old form this time. Tom Riddle was his name, and he attended Hogwarts years ago, but I'm sure you know that."

"Luscious Malfoy—evil, slimy git--gave Ginny his old diary," George added venomously. "Harry ended up getting it."

Fred picked up again from there. "He was draining the life from Ginny using the diary, talking back to her and everything. That was his new way of trying to come back. And, since he was a Parsletongue, he was able to command this basilisk to practically destroy the school. "

"It was attacking Muggle-borns all over the school," Heather solemnly added.

"Yes. But before everything was ruined, Harry and Ron stopped it."

"Our phony teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart, tried to claim credit for it though and ended up wiping his memory, since Ron's wand--it got broken--backfired on him," Heather said, disgusted. Meril remembered her being a fan of Lockhart's. Clearly that had changed.

"He got sent to the loony bin," Lee sniggered.

"Sounds like just the sort of thing I would have loved," Meril sighed.

"Yes, it was. But don't worry. Sirius Black is on the loose now, so I'm sure there'll be _some_ sort of adventure," George said, patting her consolingly on the shoulder. Meril smiled slightly at this. Yes, she'd heard of his escape. It was all over the newspaper and the news...even on Muggle TV.

"So!" The brunette clapped her hands together, eager now for a new topic. "How's Quidditch been? My spot been taken yet?" The four nodded slowly and Meril's face fell once more. "By whom?"

"Harry Potter," Fred replied.

"He's bloody brilliant," Lee added, seeing the sour look on Meril's face; the comment did not work in the way it was intended.

"Better than me?" Meril asked softly.

Everyone was afraid to answer.

Eventually, Heather ended up having the most courage and, clearing her throat several times, said gently, "Well, he isn't necessarily _better_, but he has different qualities than you that give him different advantages and stuff. And, you know, vice versa," Heather added quickly.

"And whose 'qualities' are better?"

Again, they didn't want to answer.

"Oh just say it!" Meril snapped. "Just tell me, **please**!"

All were moderately shocked by her abrupt outburst, but only one of them seemed particularly bothered by it. "His qualities are better!" George snapped back, losing his patience, which rarely happened. "Happy?"

"Very much so," Meril replied stiffly. She turned to Lee, then Fred for confirmation on this; both were avoiding eye contact. That answered that question.

Without even knowing what she was doing, Meril shot to her feet and stormed towards the compartment door.

"Where are you going?" Lee asked, startled, but Meril didn't deign to answer. She needed to find a place to cool down. She wasn't sure what had caused this sudden anger boiling inside her, though she had some sort of idea. This Harry Potter guy...okay, so he survived Voldemort, but _big deal_! What gave him the right to just steal everything that was Meril's?! Adventure, the Seeker position…soon he would be taking Fred, George, and Lee, too.

"Argh!" Meril grunted, throwing her hood off her head. She ignored all the stares she was getting from the people sitting in compartments. Who cared if they saw her tantrum?!

Quickly discovering that there was no empty compartment on the whole blasted train, Meril hurried for the bathroom instead, which was, surprisingly, empty. She threw a stall door open and closed herself in it, immediately closed herself in a stall. It took her a while to notice the hot tears streaming down her cheeks, and when she did, it took her by surprise. She had cried only once since her father died. She had toughened up--she _had_ to toughen up otherwise she'd just soften.

This, somehow, seemed reason enough to cry though. She felt frustrated and alone. So much had happened; so much had changed. It was hard enough coming back as it was without everything being different than before.

She stifled another sob and suddenly found the scene of the last time she had cried playing in her head. It was the last night of school, two years ago. Meril had been huddled in the corner of the common room, sobbing quietly and hiccupping. George had forgotten something in the common room and came down, walking right past her. But then, after retrieving his forgotten item, he heard the crying. Then he saw Meril, hugging her knees, hair covering her beat red, soaked face. He had stopped what he was doing and came to comfort her, feeling that she just needed someone there. He let her soak the front of his shirt with her salty tears, not uttering a word.

He never told a single soul that he had seen Meril crying and she was very grateful for that. Her weakness frustrated her—it was something she was always trying to lock up inside. But sometimes, on her off days, it would leak out in some form—shouting, arguing…crying. Today was one of those days

A while later, when Meril's cries had subsided, there was soft knocking on the bathroom door, followed by two voices--the twins.

"Meril. Meril--I'm sorry. Come on out, please," George begged. Then, to sound more like himself, Meril supposed, he joked, "Don't make me come in there and blow up a toilet."

Meril smiled despite herself, but she would **not** give up her position. She couldn't let them see her like this. Especially not George. Once was enough.

"I guess she's not in there," Fred said, sighing. "Come on George. She'll be back." George sighed as well; she could faintly hearing him muttering something. However, the next instant, she heard nothing.

And then everything got cold. Any happiness that had been left in Meril had been sucked out, along with all the warmth in her body. She found her darkest memories replaying in her mind.

The death of her father, which she had witnessed, hidden behind a corner, seemed to reply a thousand times. It had been committed by a man at his work--a colleague who had been thrown into Azkaban instantly. He had come for a house call and, before the meeting even started, he pointed his wand at her father and muttered those two, deadly words: _Avada Kedavra_.

This scene moved right into the next sequence—a bunch of 'clips' of being left alone at home constantly--Meril hadn't even realized how much that hurt her.

Friends turning against her. Leaving Hogwarts for two years, leaving all her friends, her loved ones…she felt her mind reeling with the memories, her heart about to explode.

Then everything went black. Meril became dizzy and fell to the hard, cold floor with a loud thud, and she heard nothing.

When Meril came about, she could just barely move. With all her might, she sat herself up, only to fall back down again with a groan.

She was beginning to find the tiled floor quite comfortable.

Then there was a shriek that nearly burst Meril's ear drums. Whoever screamed ran back out of the bathroom, their footsteps echoing through the tile. Then there were more footsteps, quieter this time.

A shriek again.

A hush.

Whimpering.

The cubical door was opened and Meril was gently lifted off the floor, carried by a strong stranger. She was too weak to open her eyes and see who it was, but the arms felt unfamiliar.

"Eat this," someone whispered. Meril's mouth automatically opened a smidge and something was forced in. Whoever was holding her helped her chew.

And then Meril blacked out again.

The next thing she knew, she was back in her compartment—or _a_ compartment, anyway—sprawled across a few of the cushioned seats. People were talking in concerned, hushed whispers. Meril listened to them, sort of. She registered the noises but couldn't make out the words.

After a few minutes, her eyes fluttered open, but her vision was blurry. She looked around the compartment. One of the twins was seated across from her, holding his head in his hands, while the other paced back and forth. Next to the seated one was Heather, biting her nails nervously. Meril couldn't see Lee but assumed he was somewhere outside her line of vision.

"Ugh, what happened?" she groaned, attempting to prop herself up on her elbows and failing.

All heads shot towards her, but the relief Meril saw was quickly transformed to fury as two freckled faces closed in on her, neither one looking at all happy.

* * *

**a/n **there wasn't much I could do to save this one, but believe me I tried. Hope it's alright. It should be better than it was :)

Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are always appreciated :D

xox


	5. Laugh

**Chapter Four--  
**Laugh

* * *

"Did I miss something? What's wrong with you two?"

Meril noticed Heather exchange a look with Lee. The two gave small nods and jumped to their feet, neither wanting to witness the exchange between Meril and the twins.

"I'm going to go...check up on Angelina," Lee said hurriedly and then slipped out into the corridor; Heather smiled sheepishly and followed, saying something about the prefect's compartment.

"That was interesting," Meril chuckled, referring to the panicked departure of their friends.

"Why didn't you answer us when we were at the bathroom door? Did you hear us?" Fred asked quietly, ignoring her comment. His face was surprisingly blank, just the faintest hint of emotion hidden in his furrowed brow. Meril did not recall ever seeing him looking like that before.

"Yeah, I just…needed to be away from people. You know how I am when I get all worked up like that. I can say some stuff I don't mean to. I just needed to calm down."

"What if no one found you?" George angrily demanded. His face was much more open than his twins; red blotched his freckled face and his eyes were narrowed as he stared at Meril. It was not an expression she was used to him wearing, either.

"Well I doubt that would happen," Meril snorted, dismissively waving her hand. "Girls always are going to the bathroom."

This statement seemed to have put them at a loss for words; both knew this to be true. Girls were constantly seen, in herds, moving in and out of bathrooms. They were silent for a moment, and during that time they went from downright angry to a mixture of concern and irritation Meril watched the changes in facial expression with interest. She had never before seen a face so contorted with rage relax so quickly as the George's had, nor had she ever watched a blank face be filled with emotion as Fred's did.

"It's a good thing that girl came in when she did," George said softly. He heaved a sigh and leaned back in his seat, resting his head on the wall. Fred fell down beside him with the same resignation.

"Why didn't you tell us what you were doing, at the very least, when we came looking for you?" Fred inquired after a moment's silence.

"Because, I already told you—I'm dangerous when I'm angry. And I didn't want to talk; I just wanted to cool down."

George opened his mouth to say something, but Meril silenced him by lifting her hand. "Look, I don't need my two best friends interrogating me, okay?" she said with a desperate look in her eyes.

"We're still your best friends?" Fred questioned; it sounded innocent enough—after all, she had been gone two years. Her feelings could have changed. However, Meril sensed a hint of maliciousness hidden beneath the surface and knew that that was not what Fred had meant.

"Wouldn't have guessed by the way you snapped at us, you...snapping turtle," George said lamely; leave it to him to try to lighten the mood—which was caused mainly by him—and fail miserably. "We know that you are upset by the change, and we were only trying to spare your feelings. You didn't have to get nasty."

Meril stared at them silently, at a loss for words. She knew they were right; she had, as usual, let her temper get out of hand. But it was just so frustrating. As she looked at them, her vision fogged: tears. She touched the salty droplets incredulously.

Why now? _Why **now**_?!

"Oh...Please, Mer...Don't start crying now," George practically begged. Meril searched his voice for sarcasm but found absolutely none.

"She cries?!" Fred exclaimed, his shock apparent. He looked back and forth between his brother and Meril, searching for a definitive answer, though he suspected he already knew it.

George hesitantly nodded, staring at Meril as he did so as if searching for approval. She didn't protest; she didn't have the energy.

"When?" Fred turned his attention to her and she groaned.

"When what?"

"When have you cried?"

Meril shrugged. "Not often; George just happened to see me when I was. I made him promise not to tell. Now, please, can we get off this uncomfortable topic?"

"When was it?"

Apparently the answer was no.

George glanced unsurely back at Meril, who waved her hand for him to continue, starting to feel numb to the whole thing. "You already told him everything else," she grumbled. Why not let him know the details?

"Sorry," George sheepishly muttered; he turned back towards his brother and answered, "The night she left Hogwarts."

"_Moving_ on!" Meril exclaimed before any more could be said on the subject. Okay, so she wasn't quite _numb_ to the whole thing yet. She wiped away the tears still in her eyes as she racked her brain for a new topic. "Who was that man who gave me chocolate before I woke up in here?"

The twins exchanged a look before shrugging. "Not a clue!" Fred cheerily replied.

"Maybe the train conductor," George added. "I bet he poisoned the chocolate so you'd shut up, since you were making such a ruckus," he then teased.

Meril scowled. "You guys are mean," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. After a moment's pause, she added, "And moody. I mean, seriously. First you're relieved, then furious, then concerned, and now you're back to your normal...._goofy_ selves."

The twins bowed low to the floor, grinning like idiots.

"Ah, it's a new act we've come up with," Fred explained with a wink.

"How did you like our facial expressions?" George inquired; he screwed up his face in an 'angry' fashion and stared at Meril, who burst out laughing.

"I think," Meril began, still giggling, "that you shouldn't quit your day jobs."

The twins feigned hurt. "But we took so much time to come up with it!" wept George.

"How could you just throw away our efforts?" Fred cried.

"I feel like I wasted a whole five minutes of my life!"

Meril laughed again. "Okay guys, it's time to stop now."

"Yeah," George agreed, falling into the empty seat beside his female friend. "It's got old quick, didn't it, Fred?"

"I was actually enjoying myself," Fred grumbled, falling onto Meril's other side.

"Seriously?" Meril and George questioned in unison, eyebrows raised.

Fred chuckles. "Nah; I agree, it was getting old."

"So, when do you think the food trolley will come by?" George asked. Meril could hear his stomach growling.

"Soon, I think," Meril replied, staring out the compartment door's window to see if she could see the friendly woman coming down the corridor with her cart.

"What makes you say that?" Fred asked, ginger-colored eyebrows knit together in thought.

"Because," Meril said indifferently, "I see her just down the hall."

"Ah. Well, that would make sense," Fred reasoned.

"Yes it would," George agreed.

"You guys are such idiots," Meril chuckled, pulling her large cloak over the top of her head just as the plump, dimpled woman slid the door open.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" she asked in her pleasant voice. The three jumped to their feet and rushed to the door, where each bought more than their fair share. Meril inconspicuously bought a little extra to make up for what the boys couldn't get and dumped it all on the floor. The twins added theirs to the pile and the three sat down to feast.

"So, Meril," George began as he swallowed a Chocolate Frog. "You didn't faint from food deprivation, did you?"

Meril snorted. "No. Why would you say that? You _see_ me, don't you?

"Well..." Fred stared uncomfortably at the girl's flat stomach, then at her clothes, which hung loosely around her body.

"Are these the same clothes from last time?" George asked, picking at Meril's gray sweater vest, which looked a little worn from being washed so often.

"Actually, yes. And it's a good thing, too, otherwise my mom would kill me. You have no idea how much we spent on this cloak and my protective gloves..."

"Meril...you're fourteen, and you're wearing the same clothes you wore when you were _twelve_ and they're **bigger** now than they were than."

"No they're not," Meril argued. She dropped her bag of _Bertie Bott's_ and examined her clothes. So they _were_ loose, but that meant nothing. She was small. She had always been small. Small and fairly short--it was something she'd never grow out of, and she had **told** the twins that whenever they started nitpicking about her size, which was much more frequently than one would expect.

"My whole family is small. It goes back generations on my mom's side," the girl squeaked. "I've told you that."

"But..."

Meril cut Fred off. "I'll take it in when we get to Hogwarts, okay, so you don't have to look at it. I have all the equipment to do that, not to mention I can use magic once we get there."

"Mer, that isn't the point. You're unnaturally small. Even your mom thinks so."

Meril stared at George, eyes flashing. "How do you know that?" she asked coolly. She had noticed her mother's looks, but she had never thought she had said anything.

"Well, she sent a letter over the summer telling us to make sure...to make sure you ate at school."

"I **do** eat. You guys have seen me. I stuff myself at school. Nothing's better than Hogwarts food."

"Yeah, but still..." said Fred, still feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

Meril refused to say any more on the subject, instead focusing all her energy on eating everything that she could. Lee stepped back into the compartment a moment later and stared at her.

"What's gotten into her?" he asked the twins, taking a seat between them.

"She's made it her personal mission to eat her way through the train," George wryly replied, popping a pumpkin pasty into his mouth.

"You guys say something about her weight?" Heather asked blankly, appearing suddenly in the doorway; Fred and George hesitantly nodded.

"Idiots," Heather grumbled. She took a chocolate frog and popped it into her mouth, throwing the collection card at Fred. "Give that to your brother. Anyway, I can't rejoin you. I spent too much time here without performing my prefect duties, so....sorry."

Meril gaped. "Prefect?! I'm friends with a _prefect_?!"

Fred, George, and Lee looked disgusted. They hadn't known either. Heather gave a sheepish grin. "I told you that you wouldn't like the people I was sitting with! Anyway, I didn't ask for this. I'll catch up with you guys back at school!" The blonde grabbed a few more treats and then left the compartment to continue her duties. The four exchanged befuddled glances.

"How did she...?"

"Well she never was as much a part of it..."

"But _still_..."

"She never was caught with us, since the biggest things were when she was with other Hufflepuffs..."

Fred and George shuddered with disgust.

"Come on, guys. I feel the need to misbehave now," Fred whispered, pulling something out of his pocket.

"Now?" Lee snorted, pulling something out of his pocket as well.

"Well, more than ever," George explained for his brother. He pulled out something identical to what the other two held and then ushered for Meril to go open the compartment door. The brunette did as she was told, and, all at once, the boys set off their filibuster fireworks into the corridor, quickly closing the door and resuming their seats, doing their best to appear innocent.

"Do you think they'll know?" Lee asked, grinning mischievously.

"No, of course not. The compartment right by the explosion is filled with the schools biggest pranksters. No one will have a clue," Meril said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Quick, look as innocent as possible," George hissed, sensing motion in the corridor. He bent down and stuffed a handful of _Bertie Bott's_ into his mouth and immediately regretted it. "Ugh! That has to be the worst thing I've ever tasted!" he gasped, wiping his mouth as he gagged. "Here, try it."

Lee carefully took the gray-green bean from George's hand and popped it into his mouth; he spit it back out, wiping his tongue. "Man! That's gross!"

"Try having a handful of those mixed with a bunch of others," George grumbled, still gagging and making noises.

Fred and Meril looked at each other and shrugged. Closing their eyes, they reached their hands into the bag of Bertie Bott's and stuffed their mouths; perhaps if they were gagging and carrying on, they would look innocent. Or even more suspicious.

"Very clever guys," said a familiar voice. "I think I'll do you a favor and get rid of the evidence, before anyone else gets here."

"Thanks, Heath," Meril gagged, rolling around on the floor, holding her throat.

"No problem, morons," Heather chuckled. She closed the door again and went to go get rid of the fireworks, leaving the four rolling around on the compartment floor, still gagging at the taste of the beans.

"This'll be something to laugh about at some other time," Meril said, finally regaining her composure.

"Hey, I'm laughing now," George said, chuckling.

"We must look like real goons," Fred added, getting to his knees.

"And to think a prefect associates herself with us!" Meril exclaimed disapprovingly, tutting as she shook her head.

"It's a sin."

"Percy would be flabbergasted."

"He'll seek her out and tell her to get away from us, for sure," Fred added.

"Perfect Percy the Prefect," George mimicked, disgust evident in his voice.

"I think you guys are jealous," Meril taunted, poking the twins.

"Of what?" Fred snarled. "We don't want to be stuck up little tarts like Percy, thanks."

"How dare you even suggest it," George exclaimed, astounded.

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry. Jeez… So who's up to a game of Wizard Chess?"

"Me!" the boys simultaneously cried. The four broke off into pairs and spent the remainder of the train ride entertaining themselves with particularly violent games of chess.

"Hey look, Mer! It's you and Amy Smith!" Fred taunted from the other game; he pointed at his chess board, where Lee's knight was dragging an extremely beat up pawn off the board.

Meril threw her head back and laughed. "Oh yes, that looks about right. As long as I'm the knight."

* * *

**a/n** I am very proud of myself; I cut this chapter back a page! That means I have only one page more in the rewrites than I do in the original, thus far. The Prologue was two pages longer, and the rest were all kept at the same number of pages. Hopefully I can keep this up. Anyway, I hope you are enjoying the story thus far. Reviews are always appreciated!

xox


	6. Arrival

**Chapter Five—  
**Arrival

* * *

Ten minutes before the train would pull up at Hogsmeade Station, Fred, George, and Lee decided that it was time to get ready. They grabbed their clothes and left the room to go change, leaving Meril. She moved back to her original seat by the window and stared out at the dark. Her stomach gave an unexpected turn as she realized just how close she was to Hogwarts. She was so wrapped up in her excitement, in fact, that she didn't even hear the twins and Lee re-enter the compartment in their noisy way.

"What are you looking at?" a voice whispered in her ear.

Meril jumped out of her skin, nearly hitting Fred in the nose as she did so.

"Oh, God! You s...When did you three get back?"

"Oh, a minute or so ago, I'd say. Isn't that right George?"

"I believe it is. Do you agree Lee?"

"Yes, I do."

"Oh. Well then you should have made your presence known."

"We were so loud entering we didn't think it was necessary."

Silence lasted for about a second. Then Fred turned to Meril with a grin on his face and said, "I scared you, huh?"

"Scared? No," Meril snorted. "You...startled me."

"Oh! **Startled** I'm sorry! My mistake!" the twin sarcastically exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

Before Meril could retort, a voice sounding as if coming from an announcement box surrounded them. "_Attention, please. We are about to approach Hogsmeade Station. Please make sure you are ready for departure. Leave your belongings in the compartments. They will be taken to Hogwarts separately. Thank you_."

Meril practically flung herself at her trunk, prying it open just slightly so that the boys couldn't see inside. She felt around for something, pulled out her robe, and quickly shimmied into it, and proceeded to feel about for something else.

Of course her behavior was noticed by the boys, who watched her curiously. "Um...Mer? What are you doing?" Lee asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"Looking for something," Meril grunted.

"Wouldn't it be easier to find if you...opened it up more?" Fred reasonably suggested.

"Well I don't want you to see my lingerie!" Meril exclaimed, looking aghast. She was lying through her teeth, and she knew it, but it was the first thing that came to mind and she couldn't resist seeing what their reaction to that would be.

"Lingerie?" George incredulously inquired; Meril sensed a squeak in his tone and a hint of pink on his cheeks.

"Well, yeah."

The boys laughed nervously and turned away to talk about something else, clearly having no idea how to react to this new insight into Meril. Taking her opportunity, she grabbed what she had been looking for in the trunk and carefully slipped them into her pocket. Glancing to make sure they had taken no notice, she resumed her seat, just in time for the train to pull into the station.

The corridors were crowded, but Fred obviously didn't care about that. He slid open the compartment door just as a stream of first years were coming by and made his way through, saying in his best Percy imitation, "'Scuse us! Fifth years coming through! Make way, make way!"

Lee and George took this opportunity and barreled through, but Meril hung back, letting the scared first years pass. She checked to make sure her large pockets weren't bulging too much, and then slipped into the crowd, taking great care to move without jostling about too much.

Meril didn't know how they did it, but the boys ended up first in line to get out the door Heather was in charge of. Meril maneuvered her way through the line to join her friends at the exit. Heather smiled at the four as she slowly turned the handle of the train's door.

"You going to be joining our carriage?" Meril asked, poking her head between Fred and George's.

"Sorry, I can't," Heather apologized. "I have to make sure everyone gets to Hogwarts and then I have to catch a carriage with the rest of the prefects." She made a gagging face.

"Poor soul," Lee grumbled. He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder, sympathetically shaking his head.

"Don't let Percy talk to you," George warned.

"He'll fill your head with junk," Fred added.

"He'll probably say that you're a prefect so you're all powerful and you shouldn't hang out with pranksters," George continued.

"Such as ourselves," Meril wrapped up.

Heather laughed. "Don't worry, I won't let him fill my head with any nonsense like that. Though really he isn't so—"

"Don't. Even. Say it," Fred said, holding his one hand out to silence her as he leaned against the door with the other. "Not so bad! You should be ashamed for even thinking it!" Heather merely smiled at him and opened the door. Fred stmbled out of the door onto the platform.

"Save me a seat at my table near you guys, okay?" she requested, giggling to herself at her little stunt.

"Will do!" Meril replied as she stepped off of the trains. Then turning to the boys, she said, "Save me a spot on the carriage. I have something to take care of."

Before waiting for a reply, the brunette moved towards the large man with a gruff voice calling out, "Firs' years! Firs' years this way!" at the other end of the platform.

"Hiya Hagrid!"

He squinted his beady eyes in the direction of the voice. Reaching her face, he smiled widely at her. "Well if it isn't Meril! 'ow are yeh?"

"Pretty good. And yourself?"

"Eh, I been better. It's good ter see yeh again tho. Been quite serme time, eh?"

"Yes it has."

"I 'ope you didn't get yerself inter too much trouble at that...er...Reform Camp you were sent to."

"Well, not as much trouble as I got into here," Meril said with a grin. "I'll tell you about it some time over tea."

Hagrid chuckled. "Yeh should be getting back ter yer carriage before it leaves without yeh."

"Right-o!"

"I'll send yer an owl."

"Okay! I'm looking forward to it!" Smiling warmly, Meril bounded back towards the carriages, trying desperately to ignore the thestrals as she went. It was a hard task, though. Their gaze seemed to follow her as she walked by; she could feel it on her skin.

Eventually she stopped and stared hard at one of them, shuddering as she did so. She had always been able to see them, even as a first year when she didn't even ride the carriages. At first, she hadn't known that not everyone could see them or that the only reason she could was because she had witnessed a death. She only found out when Dumbledore happened upon her out on the grounds, petting one. When he told her, she pulled her hand away, disgusted, and never touched one again. Ever since, she regarded them with little less than terror.

"Hey, are you coming or what?" George called, poking his head out the open carriage door.

"Yeah..." Meril mumbled, shaking her head in an attempt to expel the images of her father which had danced their way into her memory. She climbed through the open door and threw herself down beside Lee. Fred closed the door and they immediately set off.

"So, what were you staring at anyway?" Lee asked Meril.

Meril froze. She had never told them about the thestrals; they were still under the illusion that the carriages were pulled by magic, something Meril had never had the privilege of believing.

"Oh, nothing. Just staring into space, you know. Thinking..."

Eager to change the subject, she looked around at the three boys with a mischievous glint in her bright blue eyes. "I know we aren't even at Hogwarts yet, but are you guys ready for some mischief?"

"Always," said George. "But what kind?"

"_This_ kind," Meril smirked, pulling a dungbomb from her pocket.

"You're holding out on us!" the three exclaimed in unison.

"Yup! I can't believe you guys actually fell for that old lingerie thing," Meril laughed.

"You were lying?" Fred frowned, disappointed.

"Um...yeah! Like I would keep my underwear at the top of the trunk! And why would I bother hiding it if I was going to tell you anyway! Honestly!" She shook her head, disappointed at their lack of deducting. "So, are we going to do this or not?"

"Yeah!" Lee exclaimed. Fred rolled down one the window just enough so that Meril could throw the dungbomb out. She aimed at the carriage riding along behind them and threw.

Quickly the window was rolled back up in an attempt to block the smell, but it did nothing to take care of the sound. They heard the explosion and the screams and gags of those behind them.

Direct hit.

"Brilliant!" George exclaimed, beaming.

"I think that was Malfoy's carriage!" added Fred gleefully.

"Malfoy? I thought that he was...I dunno. And older guy."

"Oh, that's Lucius Malfoy. But his son, Draco, is a third year here. He's just like his father--a total--" But Lee's last word was blocked out by the screech of tires as the carriage came to a halt at Hogwarts. As usual, the ride had gone by much too quickly.

The foursome piled out and hurried up the stairs to the Entrance Hall, where plenty of other people were still crowded, trying to squeeze through the doorway. The twins started pushing and shoving, obnoxiously hurrying everyone else along as they took their sweet time. When the four had—finally—made it into the Great Hall, Meril plopped down in the first seat she could find with Fred and Lee on either side. George crawled under the table and took a spot across from her. Removing his hat, he placed it on the empty seat behind him at the Hufflepuff table.

"Now we have to wait until the firsties come," George sighed, leaning on his elbow.

"You tired of the Sorting?" Meril asked, fascinated as she stared at the enchanted ceiling. She had forgotten how much she loved the Great Hall. It was just so…magical.

"Well, I'm hungry."

"So am I. And there's no food quite like Hogwarts's."

"Oh we all know what you think of it," Fred said with a smirk.

"You just can't let go of that, can you?"

"Nope! We will forever associate food here with you," Lee said with a grin.

"Aw, I feel…honored."

"You know what stunk about last year's feast?" George began, reverting the topic back to the sorting. "We didn't sing the Hogwarts song!"

"What?! I love that song!" Meril pouted.

"Well we'll just have to sing it at your--" Fred stopped mid-thought, having been kicked in the shin by George, and his words were replaced by pained gasps.

"My what?" Meril asked, looking back down at the table, her interest peaked.

"Nothing, nothing. Fred's talking gibberish," George said dismissively, sending a sharp look at his twin. Lee confirmed this with a nod, but Meril still didn't quite believe them.

The prefects entered the Great Hall all at once. Meril caught sight of Heather scanning the crowd and waved. The blonde nodded, smiled, and ran over to them. "Hey! Thanks George!" she breathed, taking her seat with the Hufflepuffs but turning in such a way so that she faced the Gryffindors.

"So, did you hear about the Dungbomb explosion?" Heather asked, a twinkle in her eye. "Apparently someone threw it at this carriage housing some Slytherin third years..."

"Hm, well…props to the genius who pulled that off!" Meril exclaimed, lifting her empty goblet in the air as if to propose a toast.

"Do you happen to know which Slytherins?" Fred asked, trying to suppress a smile.

"Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were among them," Heather replied, smiling. "I believe there were two others as well. Probably Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson."

"How unfortunate," George said sarcastically.

"Dreadful, really," Heather said, eyes twinkling joyously.

"You know, Heather," Lee said thoughtfully, "you aren't a very good prefect."

Heather shrugged. "I never exactly asked to be one anyway, now did I?"

"I would certainly hope not!" Meril cried out, appalled at the very idea. But Heather was no longer paying much attention, for the doors to the Great Hall had reopened.

"Oh, look! The first years are here!" the blonde cooed. "Talk to you guys in a bit!" She waved at the four and then swung her legs over the bench to witness the Sorting with her own house.

A contented look came over George's face. "Ah, one step closer to food."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The Sorting went well, though the highlight was when some bloke named Seamus began to boo quite obnoxiously when a poor first year, Bridey Byrne, was sorted into Ravenclaw. Meril had forgotten how tedious the Sorting could be and was quite glad when it was over and the feast began. She helped herself to a bit of everything and ate it all like a vacuum, quickly going back for seconds, and thirds, and fourths...

"Holy—Bloody—Meril!" Fred gaped, food falling out his mouth.

"You glutton," Lee teased, shaking his head.

"Heather. Heather, you have to see this," George whispered to the girl behind him, gently swatting her arm. The blonde, a bit agitated by the interruption in her conversation with some girl Meril vaguely recognized, turned. When she caught sight of her best friend, she shook her head in disgust.

"How many helpings has she taken?" she asked the twin nearest her.

"Four, I think. I've lost track."

"Oh for Merlin's sake...stop her, please. She'll probably explode. She's too small to eat so much." After that Heather couldn't worry herself with it anymore. She turned back around and resumed her conversation, leaving the mess that was Meril to the Gryffindors.

George did the first thing he could think of—he snatched her plate and kept it out of reach, holding it high above his head. Meril whined, stretching, trying desperately to grab it, but failing miserably.

"Come on! I love Hogwarts food! I haven't had it in two years! The German's had…well, it was good, but nothing compares to this!" Meril whimpered.

"Nope. You've had too much. You want room for dessert, don't you?"

Meril's face instantly lit up by the prospect. She nodded and slowly sat back down.

"My arm is getting tired and I still haven't finished my dinner, so if I give this back, can I trust you not to eat it?" George asked, as if talking to a baby; Meril nodded andGeorge carefully placed it in front of her. Like a savage, she dug back into it.

"Ha ha! Sucker!" she laughed through a mouthful of food; George scowled.

"I'll take care of this!" Fred exclaimed. He shoveled down the remains on her plate before she could even react, and every time she went to get more he prodded her with his fork.

Between dinner and dessert, Dumbledore made some announcements, but Meril paid no attention. She was busy anticipating dessert, staring at the serving platters with a hungry look in her eyes. When they finally appeared, she was the first to take something. Her friends looked on in amazement—and a hint of distaste—and resigned themselves to the fact that she would just have to blow up.

When the feast ended, Meril was not only very dismayed, but also extremely bloated. She walked towards the tower like a pregnant woman, holding her flat stomach with one hand and her back with the other as she groaned. "I'll see you guys in the morning," Meril grumbled to the boys after clambering through the portrait hole.

"G'night!" they said in response, and then trudged up their own staircase to go to sleep.

Meril trudged slowly up the spiral staircase to her empty dormitory. As soon as she saw her bed, untouched for two whole years, she fell onto it and buried her nose in the pillow. It was even softer than she remembered; more comforting. All she wanted to do was lay there forever and just…sleep.

As fast as she could, she changed into her pajamas and crawled back onto the bed, slipping under the covers, and falling asleep faster than she had eaten.

* * *

**a/n **This was probably the worst one I had edited yet, but I hope that I have remedied that. Not that you will really know, if you are reading this for the first time...In any case, I hope you enjoyed! At long last, she is back at Hogwarts and off of that train! Took long enough!

I hope you continue reading. Reviews are lovely :)

xox


	7. First Day Back

**Chapter Six—  
**First Day Back

* * *

The next morning, Meril woke up bright and early. Energized, she whipped open the curtain and jumped out of bed. Outside the light was just barely hitting the treeline. Outside, it was still. But Meril was bursting with energy; she needed to move.

She turned away from the window, excited for the day ahead of her: her first day back at Hogwarts. This was the day she had been dreaming of for two years. With more enthusiasm than ever before, she changed into her uniform. As the twins had pointed out, it hung loosely over her body. She frowned, pulling her falling skirt up higher and reminding herself she needed to fix that. Her hair she pulled into a low braid and draped it over her shoulder before moving in to do her makeup—some foundation, a little bit of eyeliner, and just a hint of mascara.

"Hey, Mer," someone mumbled from one of the beds. Meril straightened up and turned around to see her friend, Alicia Spinnet, propped up on her bed. "I didn't see you at dinner yesterday. You were there, weren't you?" Alicia continued, rubbing her eyes with her hands.

"Yup, I was there. The food was fantastic, as usual."

"Yeah, it was..." Alicia trailed off. Meril watched her curiously before smiling. Not even a second after she turned back to the mirror, she heard Alicia collapse back down on her bed.

Meril frowned at her reflection, dissatisfied as usual with what she saw. She brushed her bangs off her face and then back on, unable to see anything she liked. No matter how often others—her mother, specifically—told her she was beautiful, she felt stuck behind a brick wall—or, rather, Heather's imposing shadow.

"I'm going down to breakfast," she declared, whirling around only to wonder who it was she was telling. It seemed everyone was still fast asleep in their beds.

"How can you eat after last night?! I must have had at least two whole plates of dinner and dessert!" she heard Alicia groan, clearly not as dead to the world as she appeared.

"Oh, I had more than that," Meril chuckled, causing Alicia to shoot up in her bed, a shocked expression on her face.

"Girl, you are lucky. If I ate as much as you, I'd be as big as a hot-air balloon."

"I'm blessed with a small family, I guess." Meril shrugged and waved at Alicia before continuing down the spiral staircase. Meril looked around the red Common Room, which was nearly barren, and spotted Lee and the twins huddled on the couch, as if looking over something. Curious, she headed towards them and sat on the floor before them, legs crossed.

Before she could get a look at what they were doing, they straightened up. Fred took something and hid it behind his back, trying his best to look innocent and failing miserably.

"I see London, I see France, I see your blue underpants," George said subtly, staring at the fireplace.

"Oh look, you guys got your wish!" Meril exclaimed, readjusting herself so that she was kneeling. "Oh don't play dumb. I knew you wanted to see my underwear when I told you that was what I was hiding from you on the train." She grinned widely at them; when no one made any move to accept or deny this claim, she quickly changed the subject. "I'm going down to breakfast, now. Have you guys already been?"

"I haven't," said Lee, getting up off the couch. "These two have though. They've been up since the crack of dawn."

"Doing what?" Meril asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

"We're trying to come up with some new items," George explained; Meril noticed how he had swatted his brother's knee as soon as he had opened his mouth.

"Well? Shall we?" Lee asked, rising to his feet and holding out his arm. Meril smiled broadly at him and accepted, hooking her arm with his and allowed him to lead them out of the Gryffindor Tower.

"They were down here, over that piece of parchment when I got up," Lee said as he and Meril pushed through the portrait hole.

"What's on it? I mean, you saw it, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah, I did, but I wasn't really paying attention to it. It's pretty much just a bunch of thoughts and notes," Lee replied, concentrating as he walked down the stairs not to step on a trick step.

"What product are they coming up with now?"

"Something about....tongues, I think. I wasn't really paying attention. You know how my attention span is. I couldn't follow their thought process."

Meril stared at him through narrowed blue eyes, trying to read his expression. She was almost _sure_ he was lying, but everything he said sounded probable, and his face really gave him no reason to distrust him.

"If they were working on a product, why can't I see it?" Meril asked.

Lee was silent for a moment, seemingly stumped. Finally he answered by saying, "You know those two just as well as I do; they're...odd. They don't need a reason for the things they do."

"Yeah, well…I still wish I could see it. I hate feeling left out."

The two friends arrived in the Great Hall and plopped down beside each other. As Meril was eating her usual astronomic proportions, Heather came and plopped down besides her, watching silently. Meril was so concentrated on eating that she didn't even notice Heather there.

Usually Heather had a way of immediately catching someone's attention. She entered a room and people looked over at her. There was something about the way she held herself, the way she cared for her appearance— she always made sure her blonde hair was perfect, her face was immaculately manicured, and she had just the right accessories—that just made everyone _notice_ her. However, there she sat, unnoticed by the two Gryffindors.

"Good morning!" Heather finally chirped; at this point, Meril had only a bit of waffle left on her plate. Meril and Lee nearly jumped out of their seats; Meril was so startled that her hands were thrown in the air and her fork hurdled out of it, hitting a poor Ravenclaw walking across the room square in the back of the head.

"Oh...Man, Heath...Why did you do that?" Meril groaned as she extricated herself from the table. She rushed over to the boy, apologized profusely as she tried to explain what happened, and returned to the table. However, as she sat back down, she had the distinct impression that he was still looking at her. Doing her best to be discreet, she glanced over her shoulder and found her suspicion to be true.

"Okay, what did you do to me?" Meril demanded, looking back and forth between the two.

"Nothing!" Lee and Heather both said defensively.

"Then why is everyone staring at me?" Meril growled. She turned her head and stared down one of the people she felt staring at her.

Heather shrugged and exclaimed, "Who knows!"

"Oh, never mind," Meril sighed. "Come on, Lee. Let's get back up to the Common Room. Maybe we'll be able to figure out what those two are up to!" Meril stood back up and gave Heather a big hug. "See you later, Heath!"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"Okay, so...let's see. What day is today?" Meril asked as she and her Gryffindor friends walked slowly away from the Common Room.

"Tuesday," Fred hesitantly replied. He rolled his up towards the ceiling as if the answer may be written up there before more confidently repeating, "Yeah, it's Tuesday."

"Okay! That means we have...Herbology first with the Hufflepuffs," Meril declared, sidestepping an oncoming student, her eyes glued to the sheet of paper before her. A grin spread across her face. "I love when we're paired up with the Hufflepuffs!"

"Me, too. Let's see…After that I believe it's," George stopped in his tracks and groaned, "Potions. With, what do you know—the Slytherins."

"Double whammy," Lee moaned.

Meril glanced up from her paper just in time to make it over the trick step. "Well, let's try to turn this into something positive! Um…not only do we get an early start on messing with Snape, but we can mess with him and the Slytherins _at the same time_. So, yeah, we'll be miserable most of the time, but every once in a while we will get that…moment of glory that we _deserve_!"

"Yeah!" Lee exclaimed.

"She does prove a valid point…" Fred agreed, nodding his head thoughtfully.

Meril glanced over at George to see what he thought of it. He was staring at her unblinkingly, his expression suggesting that he was considering whether or not to tell her she had a cockroach crawling up her face. Meril did her best to ignore the staring, but it was a bit unnerving. "What?" she demanded.

George seemed to realize for the first time that he had been staring at his female friend. His cheeks tingeing a light shade of pink, he averted his gaze. "Nothing," he muttered, then stuffed his hands in his pockets to recover his schedule, anxious for a distraction. "So, after Potions we have Transfiguration. Then there's lunch, followed by an afternoon break, and then..." George was stopped by the four arriving at the Herbology greenhouses, where Professor Sprout, a plump little witch with a cheery face and dirty fingernails, greeted them.

"Today we'll be working in Greenhouse Two. Greenhouse Two," she repeated, directing them with her fingers to the middle greenhouse.

The four attempted to walk through the narrow doorway all at once. This only led to them landing in a heap on top of one another—Meril crushed by Fred, George, and Lee.

The boys crawled to their feet much more slowly than Meril liked. When at last Fred had stood, he extended his hand to her. She accepted it and was lifted right up to her feet, but Fred didn't let go of her hand. Meril waited for him patiently for him to release it, since she didn't particularly mind that. However, his expression was disturbingly similar to the one his brother had worn just moments before.

"Okay, okay! Move it along!" Professor Sprout said impatiently, giving the two a little shove. Fred shot back from Meril, his hand returned to his side. Meril, feeling a slight blush crawling across her face, followed him over to where George and Lee stood waiting for them.

"Alright! So today, we will be working on sorting plants. It appears that, last year, plant seeds got mixed up when the first years were potting, so we have to separate the grown plants today. This can be tricky because the plants look very similar. You have to look carefully to spot the differences." Professor Sprout lifted a large pot from a shelf below her and placed it on a table. In it there were three plants which appeared, to Meril, identical. "Also, one of the plants is poisonous to the touch, as well as eating it in its raw form, so I hope you all brought your protective gloves! If you forgot them, I have some extras up here, but do try to remember them next time!"

Several people got up to grab a pair of protective gloves, Fred, Lee, and George among them. Meril pulled on her pair of blue dragon-hide gloves as she waited for them to come back.

"So what was that about?" a voice whispered in her hear, startling Meril for the second time that day. Instinctively, Meril whipped around and slapped the person across the face with her gloved hand.

Heather blinked, her lips pressed tightly together. "I think I deserved that," she said blankly, brushing a stray hair from her eyes with one of her hands covered in a--no doubt expensive--black glove. "That's the second time I've snuck up on you today."

"Do you have any idea how annoying it is?" Meril hissed. "Once I know how to apparate, I will come to you in the middle of the night while you are sleeping. When you wake up, you'll know how it feels."

"Good job telling me your plan, smarty," Heather smirked. "Now I'll be ready for it."

Meril stuck her tongue out at her friend then shook her head. "You'll forget. So, what did you want anyway?"

"I wanted to know what that was all about."

"What was what all about?"

Heather heaved an exasperated sigh. "The whole falling-on-top-of-each-other-staring-into-each-other's-eyes thing."

"I did no--"

"Okay, okay! You didn't plan it, you weren't staring at Fred—whatever! But he was totally staring at you and holding your hand a _tad_ too long!"

"Yeah, that was...**odd**, wasn't it?" Meril whispered, leaning towards Heather so that others couldn't hear. "George did almost the same thing earlier. I could have sworn I had something on my face the way they stared! And I needn't remind you of the way people in the Great Hall were looking at me this morning."

"Oh no; I remember quite clearly," Heather replied, smirking.

"I mean, is my uniform so big on me that everyone has to stare? Does it look that bad?"

"Mer, I really don't think that--"

"Okay everyone! Please pair off into fours and set to work! I will hand out the pots..."

"Who are you working with?" Meril asked, moving back towards the boys.

"Ashley, Rome and..." Heather trailed off. "Well, we'll find someone. Where are you guys staying?"

Meril pointed at where the red-heads stood, ushering for her to rejoin them. Heather rushed across to the other side of the greenhouse, grabbed her two friends, and returned to the empty tray beside Meril. A tall boy with smooth, dirty-blonde hair and glasses Meril didn't recognize joined them. The boy glanced over at her, winked, and flashed a charming smile. Turning back to his partners, he left Meril baffled. It was only when Lee tugged violently on her arm that she came to.

They had just received a large pot with three tall plants shooting out of the soil. Meril stared at them as they grew right before her eyes. Without a second thought she reached forward and yanked them out of the pot. Immediately, three new plants sprouted in their place.

"Okay, so we have to separate the plants in the pots?" Meril asked lowly, inspecting the plants. They certainly were odd things with thick beige stalks and coarse, thin purple leaves shooting in all different directions. Meril looked at them each carefully but could still pass no difference.

After Lee and the twins came up with the same decision as Meril, George, moved them to one side, forming their first pile.

"I wonder what it would taste like," Meril mumbled, working her way to pulling out a fourth.

"You want to try? Go ahead, try it. You'll be helping the whole class find out which we can touch without worries," said George with a large grin.

"Too bad we'll be losing someone in the process," Fred pouted.

There was a pause, each of them silent in looking each other. At last, George shrugged indifferently. "Eh, we can live without her." It took everything Meril had not to throw the plant she held at him.

"You," she said decidedly, shaking the stalk in his face, "are a doo-doo head."

Without waiting to see his response, Meril turned her back to him and pulled a fifth plant out to inspect and compare with the others. It appeared almost identical to the other four, but there was something off. Meril squinted her eyes against the sun and brought to plant close. She definitely saw green specks, but she wasn't sure if they were actually on the plant or just a result of staring into the sun.

"You check it out," she ordered, sighing as she tried to pass it off to Lee. But Lee wasn't paying her attention; his eyes were focused on the pot and the new plants which had sprouted there so quickly. It took Meril a moment to notice what was so interesting—all were the same size with the same beige stalk, but, while four had leaves of pale pink, the fifth had already developed the vibrant purple of the older plants.

"Which one came from here?" he asked, pointing at the one with purple leaves.

Meril considered the most recent two which she had pulled out before deciding on the one which _definitely_ had green spots all over it. Yes, she could see it now.

"Looks like we got our second plant," Lee grinned, making a second pile on the other side of the pot, just as the professor passed by.

"Bravo! It looks like this tray has found the difference between the two plants!" Professor Sprout exclaimed, absolutely thrilled. Then, turning towards Meril, Lee, and the twins—who looked bewildered—she said, "Would you care to explain the difference?"

Lee glanced at Meril unsurely; neither particularly cared for answering questions in class. Usually, they were much too concerned with other things to even know what the answer was, but on the rare occasion they had been paying attention and knew an answer, it was just against their character. However, with a sigh, Meril decided to do something out of character. It was as good a time as any, she figured, to start to prove that she belonged back at Hogwarts.

"One of the two plants," Meril began, half-heartedly lifting the green-sprinkled one in the air, "has little green speckles all over it. When it is pulled up, it already has the purple leaves of its developed form. The other one, however," and at this she picked up the first species, "has no green specks, and when it starts growing it has pink leaves, not purple."

"That is correct! Ten points to Gryffindor! Now can anyone tell me the name of these two plants?" Professor Sprout looked about the room expectantly, but no one said a word; each student wore the same identical, blank expression.

Meril, however, was starting to vaguely remember reading something about the plants in Germany. Had she retained any knowledge of the language, she may have recognized them earlier.

Professor Sprout must have seen Meril's hand inch slowly upward, because she smiled broadly and nodded at her encouragingly. "Yes, Miss Lizlow?"

Meril cleared her throat before straightening up and saying, "The one with spots is called an _Atomarius __Estriatus_, I believe, and it is used in many medicines that help regain strength, I believe. The one with no spots is, if I remember correctly, a plant found in marsh areas called _Infestatum_."

"You are correct again Miss Lizlow! Take another ten points for your house! Now does anyone know which plant is the poisonous one?" Silence was her only response. Sighing, she shook her head. "Okay, well…keep on working then."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"Professor," Lee began, throwing another plant on the pile. They had been pulling out plants all period, but they just kept growing back. "Professor," Lee called again. "_When_ do these plants come to an end?"

"That the good thing about them," Sprout replied, smiling. "They don't."

Lee's face fell and the twins dropped the stalks they had been playing around with.

"What? You mean we'll be stuck here doing this…_forever_?" Fred asked, horrified.

Meril smacked him with the back of her hand, laughing. "You haven't been doing anything, you lump," she laughed. "And you, too," she said to George, poking him multiple times in the shoulder so he got the point. George scowled and shooed her hand away, though Meril didn't miss the hidden smile in his glittering eyes.

"So, Professor, what are we supposed to do when class ends? We certainly aren't going to deal with these every day, are we?"

Professor Sprout chuckled. "No, no. Of course not. I exaggerated a little; it does eventually stop. Maybe you've noticed, but they start growing slower and slower as you pull them out. Eventually, it just stops growing after it pops out of the dirt, and we discard them. Or, at least we _suspect_ they stop growing. We kept them around for a year once and they didn't grow a centimeter," the short woman laughed.

Glancing at a sundial in the corner of the room, Professor Sprout practically flew out of her skin. "Oh, we have to go! Quick, can anyone tell me now which the poisonous plant is?"

Heather raised her hand quickly. "The one that begins with a 'i'," she answered sheepishly; she had never been good with remembering names.

"That's _Infestatum_, Miss Scarlet; take five points for Hufflepuff. Well, that's it for today. No homework, but I will see you Thursday."

The class piled out of the greenhouse, half of them throwing a pair of gloves on Professor Sprout's desk as they went. Outside, Heather hooked her arm through Meril's.

"So, you do have some stuff in that head of yours," she teased, poking Meril's temple playfully.

"Yes, I do," Meril said stiffly. She had never taken well to jokes directed at her intelligence.

"I mean besides cotton. I knew you knew there was something weighing your head down," Heather joked.

"Ha ha. You're hilarious," Meril sarcastically said, her eyes flashing as she looked at the blonde.

"Okay, I'm done now. I'm sorry."

"You better be. Remember Amy."

"Ah, yes. Amy. You don't want to get on _her_ bad side again this year."

"I really don't want to be on _any_ side of her, actually," Meril snorted. "But why?"

"She was really close to getting Head Girl, but did something **incredibly** stupid and ended up...well, not getting it. Now she is even more psycho than usual."

"What'd she do?" Meril asked, curiosity blooming inside her.

Heather shrugged. "One can only guess. All I know is that it has something to do with a guy and the Forest," Heather said, jerking her head towards the Forbidden Forest as they walked by.

"Ah, the Forest," Meril said with a grin.

Heather stared at her hard. "Don't go sneaking around there now, Mer. Not with Black on the loose and Dementors on guard."

Meril rolled her eyes. "You're ridiculous, you know. I would never sneak around--"

"Stop joking," Heather said, completely serious. "Things have changed since you left—especially this year. We're starting out knowing we're in a dangerous situation. Can you promise me you will try to behave?"

"Okay, okay; I'll try."

"Good. Now, check that out." The dirty-blonde Hufflepuff from Heather's tray was staring at Meril, a small smile on his lips. When he saw Meril look over at him, he winked again then looked away, continuing his conversation with the other boy from their tray, Rome.

Meril scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I don't even know who that is. So, hey, that reminds me…I haven't seen you with Cedric yet. You used to be all over him. What happened there?"

"Oh! I can't believe...I never...**Wow**! Um, Cedric and I have been dating since the middle of last year," Heather said with a laugh. "Wow, I really never mentioned it?"

"Never!" Meril exclaimed. "Heather! How could you—ugh! You'll have to fill me in on everything later. That's huge!"

"I promise I will, but in return you must tell me if you have any crushes or anything, okay?" The blonde grinned widely; both knew she'd gladly talk about her and Cedric without any sort of exchange, but she was always trying to squeeze information out of Meril.

There was something different about the way Heather was looking at her this time though. The way she stared at Meril, it was as if she knew—as if she could see into the most hidden parts of Meril's mind and could pick it apart.

"Promise," Meril replied, her voice faltering.

Heather caught sight of Cedric waiting for her outside of the Great Hall. Giving Meril a tight hug and blowing her a kiss, she practically skipped off to him. Meril watched them for a second before hurrying after the figures of Fred, George, and Lee already halfway down the corridor.

* * *

**a/n **There is really no point in me pointing out, especially at the bottom, that this is a rewrite but...yeah. The next rewrite will take a bit longer, probably.

Thanks for reading!

xox


	8. At Home

**Chapter Seven—  
**At Home

* * *

There was definitely a significant drop in temperature once they reached the dungeons. Outside it had been nice and sunny, but down in the dungeons it was, as usually, dank and cold. torches on the wall seemed to only make it worse .Meril shivered, rubbing her covered arms with her thin hands. She had forgotten how cold it could get down there.

Fred looked over at her and smirked. "If you had some body fat like normal people, maybe you wouldn't be so cold."

"Oh shut up," Meril growled. "And get over here." Snatching his arm, she tugged him towards her and cuddled against him in an attempt to warm herself. "This is unnatural, this is," Meril grumbled, repositioning herself under the Weasley's arm. "How can someplace be so dang _cold_?! It's summer, for Merlin's sake!"

"It's underground and we're in Scotland," George pointed out. "What would you expect?"

"And you!" Meril shouted accusingly, poking him square in the chest. "_You_! What's with that smug look? You get over here, too!" She grabbed onto his robe sleeve and yanked him into her side. He laughed as she draped his arm over her shoulders. Lee took one look at the three and burst into laughter. The image of Meril sandwiched and satisfied between the two red-faced twins was apparently a riot.

"Ah, finally! We're here!" Meril released the twins and slowly stepped forward into Snape's cold class room. Just like the old days, the four of them filed into the back row, racing each other for the corner seat.

The twins usually won because of their long legs, and this time was no different. Fred grabbed the corner seat and George quickly stole the one beside him. Lee rolled his eyes at the two and grabbed the next seat, leaving the aisle for Meril.

The rest of the class rushed inside, took their seats, and set up their cauldrons. As fifth years, they knew it was best to be prepared before Snape walked in the room. Meril was just laying out her knives when Snape burst into the classroom, his black robe sweeping across his ankles.

"Alright. Today, class, we will be making a Sleeping Draught. The instructions are on the board. Begin," Snape said in his cold voice, tapping the board with his wand.

Before all of the words had even made it onto the board, the class was gathered at the front to gather ingredients. Meril, however, stayed in her seat and stared at the board. All the ingredients in the draught were pretty common; nothing she didn't have anyway. She quickly pulled them out of her bag and set to work.

As the students worked, Snape came around, making all sort of snide remarks rather than actually helping the students out. If he ever found anything good to say, it was always to a Slytherin, even if they didn't deserve it. Like the boy across the room from Meril, for instance. Even from where she sat she could see it was _completely_ the wrong color, but Snape complimented him anyway.

"Back from Reform Camp, I see, Miss Lizlow," Snape drawled, gliding up beside her cauldron. As usual he wore a sneer on his pale face.

"Yes I am, sir. And I will tell you I became much better behaved while I was there. You know, sir, you should try it. You'd find you'd be a lot calmer," Meril amiably replied, dropping a tablespoon of dried roots into the sizzling potion.

Snape's cold black eyes flashed as the class snickered. "Five points from Gryffindor. A shame you haven't seemed to learn how to hold your tongue… Maybe you should go back for another two years?"

"Three years in that place? I wouldn't like it, but I could handle it," Meril said indifferently. With a shrug she lowered the heat on her cauldron and continued to stir as it simmered.

"Three years?" Snape stared at her, eyebrow raised high. "Did you forget how to count in your absence?"

"Oh, I guess Dumbledore didn't tell you," Meril commented, a false smile spreading across her face. "I was doing so well there that they let me out early to move to Germany with my mom. I attended a school year there, since I couldn't go back to Hogwarts, having been sentenced to two years away."

"Oh," Snape curtly commented. He glanced at her potion, but, as usual, it was coming along perfectly. She had always been talented at making potions, and also had a passion for it not even Snape with his sneers and negativity could squash. Nodding at her, but unable to compliment her as she deserved, he moved on.

"Hey--Mer," Fred hissed, leaning behind George and Lee to talk. He eyed the back of their professor for a moment before continuing. "Can you help? I think something's wrong with mine."

Meril left Lee to stir hers for a couple of minutes and crept towards Fred to inspect his draught. It was a translucent periwinkle, as it should have been, but bubbles were disrupting the surface when they shouldn't have been. "There's nothing really wrong with it, Fred," she whispered into his ear, carefully lowering the heat on his cauldron. "You just left it on high a bit too long. Give it a minute to cool before you continue. If you drop ingredients while it's boiling it might explode on you."

"Oh. Alright…Thanks, Mer!" Fred said brightly.

The brunette ruffled Fred's head and moved to walk back to her stool but stopped and added thoughtfully, "But you should have known that. After all, you got plenty of brains in that head of yours." She poked his temple playfully, smiled, and returned to take care of her potion.

"Okay everyone!" Snape called a moment or so later. Meril glanced up at the clock and was surprised to see that the class was coming to a close. "Scoop some potion into a vial and label it. I need to test them to see how well they work."

Meril pulled two vials from her bag and poured some of her draught into each. After labeling one 'Meril' with a flourish, she brought it up to Snape. As usual, he sneered when he saw it was the right color. Meril rolled her eyes and returned to her stool. While Snape was still preoccupied, she snuck the second vial into a padded box and slid it into her bag.

"Got any plans for that, Mer?" Fred asked, sneaking up beside her and giving her a nudge.

"Yup!"

"You know who?"

Meril glanced over at George, who was hurriedly juicing aconite flowers, the last step. Thankfully, it only had to be mixed for about a second before the potion was complete, so George could vial it up and give it to Snape with no problem, though he would have been done in plenty of time had he not been goofing off with something under his desk half of the class period.

"George?" Fred exclaimed, surprised.

"No, stupid!" Meril laughed. "I don't know who I'll use it on, but it could come in handy!"

"Yes, I suppose it could!" Fred agreed. He fell back down on his seat as George ran to the front with his vial. Snape gave his usual sneer as he took the vial and ordered the class to clean up.

"What were you doing?" Meril asked as she moved over to help George clean up. He was running behind, still, and for some reason decided it would be a good idea to work with one hand.

"Er...nothing," he replied, avoiding Meril's gaze. Glancing around his area, he determined everything was to his liking and turned his back on it. "Come on, let's go."

"You're in a rush to get to class? Really?" Meril scoffed.

George snorted and bent down to whisper, "No. I just want to get out before Snape tries to make me clean up the mess I left in the back," in Meril's ear.

Meril glanced over at George's seat and wasn't sure whether to gasp or laugh. There was a blood stain the shape of a hand on his stool and a trail of red on the ground. Looking back at George, she noticed he was inspecting his blood-stained right hand with care.

"What did you do there?" Lee asked once out in the hall, barely sparing George's hand a glance. He had noticed much quicker than Meril had.

"I cut it while chopping roots," George explained, shrugging. "So, who do you think he's testing those out on?"

"I doubt on himself. I," Meril replied, laughing at the mischievous twinkle in George's eye. "Why?"

"Well, I gave mine an extra little..._kick_."

"What kind of kick?" Fred inquired; he took a brief glimpse at George's hand but seemed completely unfazed.

"I added in a bit of Firewhisky I had in my bag from last spring," the other twin replied, his grin broadening. Fred, Meril, and Lee began to laugh violently; Meril swatted his arm playfully but quickly jumped out of the way when he moved to swat her back with his bloodied hand.

"Do you think Filch would give permission to use it on Mrs. Norris?" George asked when the laughter had died down, going starry-eyed. The other three pictured the scenario wistfully.

"Man, do I wish," Fred sighed.

"You know what I wish?" Meril asked, coming out of her reverie. "That you'd go to the Hospital Wing. The blood is really starting to gross me out. I can _smell_ it." She shuddered in disgust and turned away.

"Oh yeah. I forgot you hate blood," George teased. He waved his hand in front of her eyes, which she promptly covered with her hands before jumping away from him. "Alright, alright. I'll go. Transfiguration is next right?"

"Yup, " Lee replied.

"Yes! Oh I hope Madam Pomfrey takes her time…Well! See you around! " He waved at them—with his injured hand, just to bother Meril—and turned around. With a positively gleeful look, he practically skipped down the hall, leaving the others to explain his absence to Professor McGonagall.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Professor McGonagall glanced around the room, her eyes immediately zeroing in on the empty desk beside Fred. Sighing, she put her papers down and got to her feet. "Where's Mr. Weasley?"

"Right here!" Fred raised his hand in the air and waved, smiling cheekily at her.

"No, the other Mr. Weasley."

"Sorry, Professor, but I haven't memorized their schedules…"

"Detention, Weasley. I'm in no mood for your cheek. Now, today we will be transforming pillows into cats."

"Fred! Why haven't you memorized their schedules?" Meril insisted in a whisper.

"Miss Lizlow..."

"I mean, it is very important to know where your siblings are at any given moment," Meril continued, ignoring her professor.

"_Miss Lizlow!_"

Meril glanced over. "Yes?"

"Did you hear the assignment?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And what is it?"

"We're turning pillows into cats."

"Correct. Now, will you please tell me where Mr. Weasley is...?"

"Well he cut himself in Potions and started bleeding, but he wouldn't go to the Hospital Wing, so for all I know he's bled to death by now," Meril replied in all seriousness. Yes, she knew that George had _said_ he would go to the Hospital Wing, but who knew if he would have actually gone.

" Detention, Miss Lizlow."

Meril's jaw dropped. _Seriously?_ She hadn't even been being smart with her—she had been being completely serious! Sometimes Professor McGonagall was just unreasonable.

"Now Mr. Jordan, would you like to answer the question?"

"Professor, Meril wasn't joking. I think he's in the--"

The door was thrown against the wall and George was revealed, his arms thrown in the air. "I have arrived!" he dramatically announced.

McGonagall glared at him. "And where were you Mr. Weasley?"

"Well, I decided to take a ride on my broomstick, but then I--" George began sarcastically, gesturing purposefully with his bandaged hand.

The professor either didn't notice or was so tired of dealing with them already that she didn't care. "Detention," she said, rubbing her eyes with her hands. "Now shall we begin?"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

After lunch, Meril dragged the twins outside to sit by the lake while Lee went chasing after Angelina.

It was nice to know some things never changed.

"So, I never got to hear what you guys did this summer," Meril said, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Well, that's because you ran off to the bathroom," Fred pointed out, joining her and George on the ground.

"Yes, yes. I think we all remember that. So, what **did** you guys do?"

"Don't you keep up with the _Prophet_?" George asked, appalled. "Everyone else seems to know where we went, why not you?"

"Mum refuses to get it since she's never around anyway I'll have to start though. Now come on, tell me."

"We went to Egypt to visit Bill," Fred answered.

"R-really?" Meril hated herself for sounding so shocked. "That's...um...cool. But how did you...?"

"How did we pay for it?" George asked, snickering at her uncomfortable state.

"Well...um...yeah."

"Dad won this Ministry Lottery thing or something."

"That's great!" Meril exclaimed.

"Yup. It was fun. Would have been better if Mum hadn't caught us trying to lock Percy in one of the tomb's though," Fred commented, frowning slightly.

Meril laughed. "That would have been bloody hysterical. He would have been furious though. How could he be Head Boy from there?"

"_Big_head Boy, you mean," George corrected, giving Meril a stern look.

Meril gaped. "You **didn't**," she squealed.

"Ah, but we did," George said proudly.

Meril laughed and nudged him with her shoulder; he toppled over onto Fred and, as she tried to regain balance after moving and failed, she fell on top of him.

"Sorry," she grumbled after staring at him for a moment. Red crept across both of their cheeks as she repositioned herself, scooting slightly away from the Weasley.

"So! What else did you do in Egypt?" she squeaked, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Nothing of great significance," Fred answered.

"You must have been in the sun a lot," Meril commented, noticing for the first time the added freckles on their faces.

"We were in _Egypt_ Mer," George said blankly.

"There's nowhere to go **but** under the sun," Fred added.

"Well excuse me for not being as..._worldly_ as you two!"

The twins stifled laughter at this. "We've only been to Egypt! It isn't as if we've traveled the globe! And what does that have to do with knowing Egypt is sunny, anyway? You don't have to be 'worldly' to know that," Fred said, grinning.

Meril stuttered some inaudible response, growing steadily more flustered. The twins laughed heartily at her; Meril scowled, her blush intensifying, and gave them each a light kick, nearly sending them tumbling into the water.

"I should just let you fall in," she grumbled, casting 'Wingardium Leviosa' on them both. She left them suspended in midair, taking pleasure in their 'horror'—the two acted as if they were girls in dresses, bending over themselves and holding down their robes. Both were screaming things like "Don't you be looking at me, you..._Peeping Tom_!" in alarmingly high-pitched voices.

Normally Meril would have found this funny, but something about it made her particularly ticklish and she fell onto her back, writhing with laughter. She completely forgot about holding the two up. As she writhed about, tears streaming down her face, the two fell on the ground, one big mess of flailing limbs.

Of course, this only made Meril laugh even harder.

"Ow," they groaned, rubbing their newly sore bottoms.

"Sorry," Meril hiccupped, attempting--and failing--to recollect her composure. "It's just-" Hiccup "-you two--" Hiccup "--make such good--" Hiccup "--girls!"

"Do you think she's going to die?" George asked his twin thoughtfully, watching her with some consideration.

"I don't know. Only one way to find out," Fred replied.. He walked to the edge of the cold lake and filled a spare vial he found in his robe pocket with water.

"Do you think someone put laughing gas in her food?" George suggested.

"Or maybe someone just put a Cheering Charm on her without her noticing..." Fred added. "Oh well." With a shrug he poured the water onto Meril's face, leaving a stunned look frozen there, her hysterical laughter gone.

"You okay Mer?" Fred asked, bending close to her face for closer inspection.

"You _jerk!_" Meril shrieked. She lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his middle and tackling him to the ground. The two rolled down the small hill to the edge of the lake…and then right in

"Wait for me!" George called out. He galloped after them and jumped after the two, who broke the surface, gasping for breath, just as he went under..

"And what, pray tell, did _that_ accomplish?" Fred asked Meril bitterly, wiping his wet face off with his equally wet hand.

"It seemed appropriate," Meril answered, shrugging, a timid smile on her face. She then spotted George surfacing and gave him an odd look. "What on earth are _you_ doing in here?"

"I didn't want to be left out," George replied, grinning toothily.

"You are such a moron," Meril laughed, hugging him in a pitying way.

"Ugh, Meril! My watch is busted now," Fred groaned, pushing his red hair out of his eyes.

"Mine isn't!" Meril chirped, showing the twin her water-proof watch.

"Give me that," Fred demanded, not even bothering to look at it. He took it off the girl's small wrist and placed it on his own. Ignoring Meril's death glares, he explained, "You owe me."

"Well, according to your new...er..._Barbie_ watch, Fred, we should be getting back inside," George cackled. Barbie was so popular in the muggle world that even wizards had heard of her.

"What? Barbie?!" Fred ,startled, looked down at his wrist. Sure enough the watch had pink bands and a picture of a fake, blonde girl with digital numbers on the screen.

"Why would you have a Barbie watch?" Fred asked Meril blankly.

"That was a gift from my dad," Meril grumbled, averting her eyes. "And since my other watch was recently stolen by my mother, I had to wear that one."

"Well, since it's a gift from your dad...here, have it back!" Fred said, thrusting the little pink thing back at her. He just didn't want to be seen walking around with a little girl watch, and neither George nor Meril was falling for his act.

Meril grinned. "No way!" she screeched. With great difficulty, she ran out of the lake and jumped onto the shore.

"I thought it was a gift from your dad!" Fred called, running after her, George right at his heels.

"Sucker!" Meril shouted, blowing him a raspberry. "That was from my Great-Aunt Gertrude! I just got it as an early birthday present!" Meril laughed triumphantly. "She never did like me much. Or my mom, either..."

"You beast!" Fred screamed, picking up his pace.

Meril shed her huge robe in order to move quickly, and it hit George square in the face. Now both the twins had it out for her.

As Meril laughed, sticking her tongue out at them and making faces, she seemed to enter a patch of extreme cold. Suddenly her smile was gone and she felt a wrenching feeling in her gut. Her joy and laughter was pushed out of her mind, and was instead replaced with memories and thoughts that brought on a wave of deep depression. She felt the unexplainable need to break down and cry in huge, choking sobs.

But she couldn't. Everything was going black. She gasped for breath as her vision was torn away from her. She stumbled backwards and then...

"I gotcha," one of the twins whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her skin. She felt goose bumps popping up all over her arms.

"You shouldn't go near Dementors," said the other one, speaking into her other ear. He grabbed a hold of her, and together they carried her past the dementors back into the building.

Meril felt very weak still, but she was better. Happy thoughts were slowly filling her mind. Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself giggling at how wet they all were.

"Come on, we should get you up to the Hospital Wing," George said, still holding onto her elbow with his bandaged hand. In her head, Meril groaned; she hated it in there.

"Yeah," Fred agreed. He looped his arm through hers and George followed suit. Together, they lifted her off the ground and carried her up to the Hospital Wing.

The first thing Madam Pomfrey did when they entered was cluck about how wet they were and how they'd catch a cold.

"That isn't why she collapsed, though, is it?" Madam Pomfrey asked darkly after Fred and George explained how they took a 'swim' in the lake. She had taken the petit girl from their arms and laid her down on one of the beds, much to Meril's chagrin.

"Erm...no. She got too near the dementors," Fred answered, looking uncomfortable under the nurse's sharp gaze.

Madam Pomfrey clucked some more and shoved some chocolate into Meril's mouth. "You two," she said sharply, turning her attention to the twins, "go take a hot shower in the bathroom right over there. And _please_, keep Meril away from dementors from now on!"

"Yes ma'am," they muttered, moving slowly towards the Hospital Wing boys' bathroom.

"And you!" The woman spun around and stared at Meril. "You should know better than to go near them! You know how they affect people! And after everything you've gone through..." The woman continued like that, fluffing Meril's pillow constantly as she spoke. Meril had stopped listening; it was mechanic. As soon as an started to scold her, she tended to just…tune them out.

"I'm cold," Meril said suddenly, hoping that she'd be permitted to take a shower to avoid Madam Pomfrey's talking.

'Yes, yes. Of course. Go ahead and take a shower. I'll write notes to your teachers explaining why you're late. What classe?"

Meril extracted her schedule from her robe; the ink had run from getting so wet, so she had trouble reading what it said. After some struggling, she answered, "History of Magic."

"Right. Now, please, go get in the shower before you catch cold! Honestly, on the first day of school…"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

When Meril got out of the shower, her clothes were hanging up, dry and ready for her to put back on. She slipped into them and smiled; they were still warm.

"Here you are, dear," Madam Pomfrey said, handing Meril a large chunk of dark chocolate and a note to give to Professor Binns.

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Meril said as she was dragged out of the Hospital Wing by the twins.

History of Magic was boring as ever; when the three walked into class, he was rambling on and on; he didn't even notice their entrance. Meril and the twins exchanged looked and shrugged—they didn't want to be the ones to pull him out of his own little world and make him notice that most of the class was asleep. So, sticking the note into her pocket, the three slid into the empty stools by Lee. He startled awake, slapping the desk as he caught himself from falling off his seat. Professor Binns paused, stared at Lee, cleared his throat, and continued.

At dinner, which seemed to take forever to get there, Heather abandoned Cedric to sit with Meril, Fred, George, and Lee at the Gryffindor table. Although she took part in the conversation, it was clear that she was not being entirely attentive. Meril noticed that she was continuously glancing towards the doors, as if waiting for someone to come join them.

And Meril was right; the doors opened for the fifth time since the five of them had sat down to dinner, and Oliver Wood entered. Heather jumped from the bench and ran over to greet him. He looked a little bewildered as he was dragged over to the table and placed down beside Meril, taking Heather's seat.

"Are you going somewhere?" Meril asked Heather, looking confused.

"Nope. Just…moving down a seat," Heather replied, grabbing her plate and doing just as she had said.

Oliver seemed stiffer than usual as he ate. Clearly, he wasn't very comfortable with the seating arrangements. Meril wasn't either. Although she was friends with him, it was more of a casual relationship. They never ate meals together or carried out long conversations.

"So, Wood!" Meril began, turning away from the others to talk to the Keeper. Even though she had nothing much to say to him, she felt awkward with him sitting there silently. "What's up? I trust you haven't started practices yet?"

Wood swallowed down some food before answering, "No, not yet. But I will be soon. You can never start too early, you know."

"Oh yes, I know how your mind works. You started training me as a Seeker in the middle of my first year so that I would be prepared in my second."

Wood grinned, embarrassed. "I remember," he mumbled.

"And then the time--"Meril stopped, noticing how his brown eyes bore deep into her bright blue ones. "What?" she asked, frowning.

His glances towards Meril hadn't been going unnoticed all that time. Although Meril herself seemed to be oblivious to them up until then, Heather had smiled wickedly at each glance he took.

"N-nothing!" he stuttered, then looked away to continue eating, their conversation forgotten. Meril looked over at Heather questioningly, who shrugged, grin in place.

Shortly thereafter, the two girls finished up their dinner. Heather would have been satisfied to remain sitting there, observing as Meril continued to be subject to the stares of many, but Meril seemed eager to get out of there.

"Tell me Heather, _why_ is everyone staring at me? I haven't seen a single person look over at you without their gaze flickering towards me, all day! And then when you aren't around…!" Meril trailed off and blew air out of her mouth, exasperated. "It's so _irritating_."

"Everyone just wants a look," Heather answered, shrugging.

"Stop," Meril demanded.

"No! You're gorgeous! Even **I'M** staring! It looks more like you went to Beauty Camp than Boot Camp!"

Meril stopped dead in her tracks to give her friend a look that clearly suggested she thought she was insane.

"I'm not even joking, Mer," Heather whispered. "I mean, you've never been ugly--_never_. It's just that you, well…you were more...cute, sweet, and innocent. Well, before Hogwarts. And then at Hogwarts you...intimidated people. Now you're calmer and...well, I don't know! There's just this glow about you and it just…attracts everyone!"

"Heather, stop," Meril insisted. "I'm not..._pretty_. I'm not gorgeous. I'm just...me. Plain, simple-looking me."

"You've never been plain looking," Heather said a bit sympathetically.

"Yes I am! And it isn't even like I care how I look, so don't you go pitying me for it! I'm fine with looking how I do!"

"If you are so fine with it then why are you arguing with me about it?"

"You should really drop it, Heath. _You're_ gorgeous, not me, okay!"

Heather clucked with her tongue, shaking her head so that her loose blonde hair fell in her dark blue eyes. "You're so stubborn!" she whined.

"And you're a liar!" Meril retorted.

Heather gasped. "Take that back!"

"Only if you admit that I'm not pretty!"

Heather nearly choked at this. "You are positively the most _ridiculous_ person I've ever met! What sort of girl are you, wanting someone to tell you that you're simple looking?!"

"I'm the kind that wants to hear nothing but the brutal-honest truth."

"Than you should just learn to accept that you're pretty!" Heather, going slightly hysterical with frustration, shrieked.

"You're impossible!"

"No, _you_ are! Just ask anyone in this place what they think of you, and I can guarantee that they'll tell you you're pretty."

"What if I ask Fred? Or George? Or Lee?" Meril asked, narrowing her eyes.

"They're your _friends_ Mer! And they're **guys**! They wouldn't openly admit that they think you're pretty!"

Even though Meril hated to admit it, Heather had a point. Plus, they were jokesters. They were...well, they made almost everything into a joke, so if Meril walked up and asked them she wouldn't get a straight answer and she'd feel like a fool.

"Fine! What about...Oliver?"

"Oh, I'm sure he'd agree that you are," Heather said, laughing a bit too knowingly.

Meril gave her best friend an odd look before replying, "Fine! I'll ask him...later!"

"Fine! And I'll ask Cedric, which would make two people, and then we should probably get a third opinion. Another guy or a girl?"

"I don't care! A girl!"

"Okay. You ask Angelina or Alicia, okay! You're friends with them, right?"

"Yeah, I am!" Meril shouted before becoming thoughtful "Which reminds me, I haven't really talked to them yet..."

"Well make sure you do that before asking them. It would be rude not to." Heather's voice had also dropped back to its normal tone, the spat apparently over.

"Yeah, it would."

_"Finally_ we agree on something! This whole conversation has been so _frustrating!_" Heather exclaimed. "Now I should go to bed. Early to bed, early to rise!" she sang. "Toodles!" Then, hugging Meril goodnight and blowing her a kiss, she started off towards her Common Room.

"We didn't talk about Cedric, you know!" Meril called after her; the blonde smiled at Meril and shrugged, then continued on her way.

"Later then!"

"Sure!' Heather called over her shoulder before she disappeared around a corner.

Meril heaved a sigh and then hurried towards Gryffindor Tower, suddenly eager to talk to Alicia and Angelina. Sure they sent letters to each other while Meril was gone, but so much was unsaid. So when Meril burst into the Common Room, she was pleased to see the two Chasers seated on the couch, whispering to one another, bent over a piece of parchment, just as the twins had done that morning.

"Hello there, A and A!" Meril exclaimed, falling down beside them.

Angelina hastily folded up the parchment, just as the twins had also done, and stuffed it in her pocket.

"Hey Meril!" the two exclaimed in unison, grinning identically.

"How was your first day back?" Angelina asked, pushing a stray black hair from her face.

"...Eventful, I suppose. Feels just the same as it used to be; like I'm at home. What about you two? I haven't talked to you two at all really!"

"No, you haven't," Alicia answered, frowning slightly. "But don't worry, we forgive you! After all, you have been hanging out with Fred and George."

"And Lee," Angelina added.

"That's no excuse," Meril frowned.

"Oh yes, it is," Alicia insisted, grinning.

Meril narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

The two Chasers shrugged. "It's just...never mind!" Angelina said, trying to brush the subject away once it became clear Meril didn't know what they were talking about.

"But--" Meril persisted.

"No, we'll talk about it when you're ready," Alicia insisted, sniggering.

"And how will you know when I'm ready? More importantly, how will I know, since I thought I was and apparently I'm not. I mean, I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"Never mind!" Angelina impatiently said. "We'll tell you later. So...what's up! You look like you've got something on your mind."

"Well I'm wondering what you guys could be--"

"_Besides_ that!" Angelina interrupted, slapping her hand down on Meril's mouth before she could even finish her thought.

Scowling, Meril pried the hand from her mouth. "Okay, if you must know, Heather has kind of...sent me on a mission."

"Oh?" Alicia said, her interest peaked.

"Yes. See, she gets the impression that people are staring at me because they think I'm pretty and are no longer scared of me and I disagreed. I don't know why they're staring, but it can't be because of that. I'm so…plain looking." She frowned down at her boring hair. Looking up at the two Chasers, her frown melted away and her expression became thoughtful. "Were people really scared of me?"

"Well, first off, yes people were scared of you! No other first year ever started a fight with an ogre-sized Slytherin seventh year—granted, you didn't win, but no one else would have even tried! And then there was the whole Amy Smith thing and..."Alicia continued on, listing instances Meril had completely forgotten about, until finally Angelina swatted at her and she shut up. "But the whole pretty thing...I'm sorry Meril, but Heather is smarter about that than you. And plus, you're biased because you're looking at yourself."

"That's not true! Heather knows she's pretty when she looks at herself."

"That's because—no offense or anything—but her ego has been inflated so much that it's ten times bigger than her chest," Angelina indifferently replied. "There are very few people, let's say, that can look at themselves and like what they see. Most aren't accustomed to the obscene amount of compliments that girl get. "

"Anyway! As I was saying," Alicia began again, clearing her throat and glaring at the other two, "yes I think you're pretty! I'd kill to have your eyes! Or just your cheekbones! I mean, is it too much too ask for?"

"I agree," Angelina said with a firm nod. "And I totally wish I was as skinny as you."

"No you don't," Meril hurriedly interrupted, trying very hard to ignore the hot blush on her face. "You'd hear no end to it from the twins, believe me."

"Well I don't think either of us," Alicia said, motioning between herself and Angelina, "would have that problem. In case you hadn't noticed, those boys don't care about us even a fraction of what they care for you."

"You've all gone insane," Meril muttered, shaking her head. "Anyway! I'm going to bed now! I'll see you two in the morning!"

"See you then, gorgeous," Alicia teased, winking.

"Don't get an inflated head in your sleep," Angelina replied. When Meril glared the two merely burst into a fit of laughter and continued what they had been doing before Meril had approached them.

"They're so weird," Meril whispered to herself a while later, settling on her bed to start some homework. "I bet Heather already got to them."

Despite these thoughts, Meril couldn't help believing it a little bit when she glanced at the mirror on the wall. Maybe, just _maybe_, she was seeing a bit of what she really looked like. She could see how her eyes were nice. They were a startling shade of blue and a nice shape. And her cheekbones were alright. They were a little prominent, but not so much so that it made her look skeletal. However, she didn't think that made her pretty by any stretch of the imagination.

Meril looked away from the mirror, growing tired of thinking of the subject. More than that, she was just _tired_. Throwing all of her books to the ground and carefully placing her quill and ink on her nightstand, she got herself ready for bed.

When she finally got herself settled under the covers, she had one of the oddest dreams ever. In it, she and Heather were strutting down the hallway and all of the crowds parted for them, awed by their presence. Suddenly, Heather was gone and replaced by Fred and George. The three were dancing pleasantly when the twins randomly burst into a fight—_over her._

And the oddest part was, Meril wasn't simple, plain old Meril anymore. She was, as Heather had put it, _gorgeous_.

* * *

**a/n **This is a more...whimsical chapter, I guess? It's kind of frivilous and pointless, but...I don't know, sometimes I like it. I tried to make it less about how beautiful she is by removing some mentions of people staring at her. I hope it is more...tasteful now? I changed the name of the chapter, too, to make it seem less about her looks. I don't know. I just hope it is better than it was. It is two pages longer than it used to be, which means I have to cut three pages worth of stuff out the next five chapters. Knowing me, this could be a problem.

Wish me luck! And review!

xoxo


	9. Teatime

**Chapter Eight—  
**Teatime

* * *

Meril woke up early, pushing the dream to the darkest corners of her mind, desperate to forget it all. How Fred and George fought, how she was beautiful...Meril shuddered as she slipped into her robes and hoped that Heather wouldn't bring the topic up at breakfast; the whole thing just sickened her.

The Common Room was empty when Meril came down the spiral staircase, except for a ginger-colored cat, staring at Meril with yellow eyes. Now Meril had always liked cats, but she found this one to be a tad...creepy. Its yellow eyes followed Merils every movement and its bottlebrush tail flickered back and forth in time with its eyes. Shuddering, Meril forced herself to look away. She stepped out of the Portrait Hole and hurried down to the Great Hall for some breakfast, her stomach growling.

"So tell me, what did they say?" Heather exclaimed, appearing at Meril's side out of nowhere. The blonde draped her arm over the brunette's shoulder.

"What?" Meril asked stupidly, shrugging out of her friend's grip.

"You _did_ ask them, didn't you?" Heather asked incredulously.

"Oh, that! Yeah, I remembered."

"_And_?" Heather persisted; she couldn't wait to hear that she was right, though she knew it would be difficult to get it out of Meril.

Meril didn't answer. She fixed her eyes on the entrance to the Great Hall and walked quickly towards it, desperate to ignore Heather and get some food in her stomach. But of course, her scheme had no chance at working—Heather was a persistent one. Meril hadn't even gotten to the door when Heather caught up again, insisting that Meril give her an answer.

"You enjoy torturing me, don't you?" Meril asked coolly, bright blue eyes flashing in her friend's direction.

"Well, to be honest...yeah," Heather responded, her dark eyes glittering while a malicious smile crept across her perfect face. She just loved seeing Meril's pride struck at.

"You were right," Meril muttered, brushing her wavy hair out of her face. Refusing to say more, she grabbed the door handle and tugged it open.

"Wait, I couldn't hear you!" Heather called after Meril's receding back in complete seriousness. The blonde rushed after her friend, who quickly walked the length of the table and then turned, moving as if to circle the long thing.

Heather dove under the table and came up right before Meril. "Sorry about that," she apologized to the shocked second-year boy she crawled underneath. He blushed and looked away.

"As a prefect, you really should be acting with more dignity and care," Meril sneered.

"As a prefect, it is my duty to er...extract important information from those withholding it," Heather retorted, wiping dirt from the front of her once-spotless black robes.

"Important information?" Meril choked. "Now _that_ is rich!"

"Oh come _on_ Meril! Why don't you just bury your pride and tell me! I just want to be right for _once_! "

"For once? You're right **all** the time!" Meril said shrilly.

"Not with you around! You can never let anyone but yourself be right in matters like this, and then in school... you know it all, though you refuse to let on that you actually have a working mind!"

"Stop it, just stop!" Meril insisted. By this point the two girls had drawn so much attention to themselves that almost every person in the Great Hall had stopped eating in order to listen in.

"Now, tell me Meril, what did they say?" Heather ordered haughtily, acting as if she didn't know that people were staring at her. She had grown used to ignoring attention.

"They agreed with you, okay! Are you satisfied?! Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to eat my breakfast without you pestering me and without _everyone staring at me_!" Meril growled; suddenly her fierce glare was directed not at the blonde but instead at everyone else in the Great Hall. Suddenly she was the intimidating Meril again; the students busied themselves with eating and speaking quietly to their friends.

Meril grabbed a stack of buttered toast from the nearest serving platter and then stormed off, leaving Heather gaping, staring after her. A moment later, Meril could hear the blonde as she hurried after Meril.

"Meril!" she shouted.

The brunette stopped outside the Entrance Hall doors, going rigid. Heather assumed it was because she had called out for her, but when she got nearer she heard Meril mutter something about dementors. Then the brunette did something Heather wouldn't have thought possible of even her--_she walked right past her_.

So angry that Meril would merely ignore her like that, Heather swallowed her apology and screamed after Meril, "You know, you wouldn't think someone who didn't give a hoot about their appearance would wear make-up!"

Meril's body tensed again. Heather half-hoped that she'd shoot some nasty comment back at her, but she just shook her head and then hurried back up to Gryffindor Tower.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"Hey, Mer, I was wondering--what's wrong?" Fred cut himself off, startled as Meril slammed the Fat Lady's portrait shut and stormed into the Common Room with toast hanging out of her mouth, a sour expression on her face.

"Don't wanna talk about it," she grumbled, the indistinct sound of the Fat Lady screaming indignantly further muffling her words.

Fred, George, and Lee exchanged looks before George shot up and hurried after her, grabbing her arm before she could disappear into the Girl's Dormitory where he wouldn't be able to reach her.

"Hey. **Hey**—you can tell us, you know," he said tentatively, staring into her eyes with his own hazel ones. Meril felt weak under his intense gaze. She was compelled to fall onto his chest and cry, explaining everything to him through her sobs.

But she didn't. Her pride wasn't totally destroyed from her encounter with Heather, and she didn't care to tear it further by breaking down in front of so many people. In fact, simply crying in front of _anyone_ would ruin the remnants.

"I'm okay, George," she assured him with a quiet whisper. "I just had an argument is all. Nothing some...toast can't heal." She smiled half-heartedly at the stack of toast in her hand

"Mer--" George pleaded, but Meril shook her head.

"No. Now I'm going upstairs. Don't even try getting up, you know by now that it's useless." She smiled gratefully at him, touched his shoulder, and then hurried up the spiral staircase.

"So, what's wrong?" Alicia asked as soon as Meril fell back onto her bed.

"What? What are you talking about?!" Meril asked shrilly.

"Well, you would never just eat toast for breakfast. Plus," Alicia added as a sort of sheepish afterthought, "I heard you and George talking downstairs."

"Ah," Meril replied, tearing a bit off the toast. "Well, nothing's wrong. Nothing I wish to talk about, anyway."

"You got into an argument," Alicia commented, ignoring Meril's wishes. "With whom?"

"Heather," Meril grumbled, giving in. Alicia had a way of prying information out of people which Meril couldn't even explain. She had been able to resist _George's_ attempts with his trustworthy smile, pleading eyes, and warm touch, yet all Alicia had to do was ask and she was talking.

"Ah," Alicia said understandingly. "Well, Heather isn't mean. I'm sure she didn't intend to upset you."

"I know. But she knows how easily I'm set off!"

"I think everyone does," Alicia laughed. "So anyway, tell Aly exactly what happened."

"First off, don't refer to yourself in the third person, it's creepy," Meril laughed. "And secondly…okay, fine." Meril took a deep breath and quickly explained everything that had just happened to Alicia, who listened intently to it all.

"You guys will work it out. You've been best friends forever," Alicia said encouragingly, patting Meril's back. "But I really am sorry that all of that happened. That sounds…well, awful. And, I'll be honest, pretty humiliating."

"It's not your fault," Meril grumbled. "I have a temper, simple as that, and Heather, having known me so long, knows how to provoke it, even unintentionally."

"Shows how well you know each other! See, I didn't know that you were stubborn and had a huge problem with pride!"

"I wouldn't word it that way..."

"But it's the truth," Alicia said simply, shrugging. "Now don't pout all day, okay! We've got our first DADA class today and I've heard Professor Lupin is great!"

That was another thing she was great at—changing the subject.

"...Who?"

"Professor Lupin! The new DADA teacher! Weren't you listening at all Monday night?"

"To be quite honest--no. What happened to the others again? They told me on the train but I forgot."

"Well, to sum it all up, Quirrel was housing He-who-must-not-be-named and Gilderoy Lockhart was a fraud who lost his memory."

"Oh, yeah. Lockhart," Meril said with distaste, causing Alicia to laugh.

"I always knew you'd have hated having him. I, on the other hand--" Alicia sighed wistfully. "If only he hadn't been a phony. Anyway, time to get to class!" The Chaser lifted Meril, who was still nibbling on her last piece of toast, to her feet and dragged her off to class.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Alicia was right--Lupin _was_ good. But she was wrong about Meril and Heather making up quickly. The rest of the week passed without them saying a word to one another. After Fred, George, and Lee finally found out what was bothering Meril, they wouldn't stop trying to cheer her up. Each in turn would make a joke or make up something negative about Heather. Fred even went so far as to throw a Dungbomb at her, which only caused the rift between the two girls to increase.

And while the fight was on Meril's mind, she was also dealing with other things. She tried to get a chance to talk to Hagrid after every Care of Magical Creature's lesson, but the twins were under the impression that she was just worried about O.W.L.S and so dragged her off before she could. And, of course, homework was being piled up quickly and Wood informed her that practice would be starting soon, and Meril wanted to watch the team's progress.

So with all that on her mind, Meril was happy to get a letter from Hagrid Saturday morning, knowing that she could always free her mind just by having a spot of tea with Hagrid in his cozy little hut.

_Dear Meril,  
Would love it if yeh could come down this afternoon for some tea. We havn' really gotten a chance to talk since yeh arrived._

_-Hagrid_

Meril quickly sent the owl back, writing that she would love to.

"So, what are you guys doing today?" Meril asked the twins, smiling happily.

"Well we were going to work on cheering you more, but..."

"Have you and Heather made up?" Fred interrupted.

"What? Oh, no. We haven't. But I'm going down to see Hagrid this afternoon. We're going to have a bit of tea, I daresay. That always makes me feel better."

"You aren't going to spend time with us?" George blubbered, feigning hurt.

Meril laughed. "I love you guys dearly, but I've spent enough time with you this week. You've been hanging all over me trying to cheer me up."

"Oh? Have we been annoying you?" Fred asked, waving his knife at Meril. The butter that was on the end of it flew and hit Meril in the eye.

Giving him a blank look, she wiped the butter from her eye and flung it carelessly onto her empty plate. "No, you haven't been annoying me at _all_. Thank you for the butter!"

Fred grinned sheepishly at the girl before turning his attention back to his meal. Meril sighed and looked down at her pancakes, not really looking forward to them anymore. Resisting the urge to chuck them at Fred's head, she carefully served herself up some eggs, shoveled them into her mouth, and headed upstairs to go get ready for tea.

"Do you reckon we should have had tea with her?" Meril heard George asked as she began to walk away.

"Ah, yes. We could have put on a whole show for her! I see it now: 'Oh _hello_ there old chap! What a pleasure it is to see you again!' And then she'd probably say something like, 'Splendid, positively _marvelous_,' right?"

"Oh yes," George agreed. "Then I would say. 'You look quite smashing today. Please, have a seat. I'm already brewing up some tea.'"

The two then burst into fits of hysterical laughter. Meril smiled slightly, shaking her head at how ridiculous those Weasley boys could be, and hurried off to the showers.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"I trust you didn't take another dip in the lake?" Fred asked, smirking, when Meril came back into the Common Room after a refreshing shower.

As way of answer, Meril walked over to him and squeezed the ends of her wet hair over his head. A load of water dripped onto his ginger hair, causing a dark spot to form on the top.

"Hey, that actually looks pretty neat," George commented.

"You think so?" Meril asked, eyebrows raised quizzically. She took a step towards him and did the same over his head. "What about you Lee?"

Lee Jordan shook his head. "Thanks for the offer though," he said, grinning.

"Not a problem. If you ever feel the need..."

"I'll know who to ask."

"So, Mer," Fred began, pointing a wand at the top of his head to dry it off. He shook his head vigorously and the remaining droplets of water stuck to his forehead shot across the room. "What's with the getup?"

"Yeah! Whatever happened to the fun t-shirts?" George pouted.

"Honestly? This was the first thing I picked up," Meril replied indifferently. "But if you want, tomorrow I'll be sure to dig up one of my t-shirts for you boys."

"Well, if that's what you want..." Fred mumbled.

"Yeah. We really don't care," George added, doing his best to act indifferent.

Meril smacked them both upside the head.

"Ouch! What was that for?!" the twins exclaimed in unison, clutching their skulls. Meril couldn't resist kissing their noses after that; their frowns just made them look so adorable.

_Pathetic,_ Meril firmly corrected herself, pulling away from their faces.

"I'm going now!" she declared, kissing Lee's cheek since he seemed to feel left out. "I'll be back...later."

"Bye!" Fred and Lee said, waving as she moved towards the Portrait Hole.

"Ciao, doll!" George added after they left, fluttering his eyelashes at her.

Meril burst out laughing and pushed her way out of the Common Room before the guys made it impossible for her to leave.

She didn't know how she had survived those two years without those guys. They could turn the most mundane situations into something to laugh about. And of course, they could almost **always** cheer Meril up when she got into a bad mood.

Another thing she didn't understand how she could survive without was her teatime with Hagrid. Ever since first year, when Hagrid had covered for Meril when she was facing a month's worth of detention for putting a package of exploding objects outside Filch's door, the two of them had been friends . Hagrid had said to Filch, who suspected Meril, that it had accidentally been sent to him and he dropped it off to Filch, seeing the name, but he didn't know what was in it. Filch didn't really believe Hagrid, but he went with the story anyway. But ever since then, Hagrid had been keeping a close eye--or _trying_ to--on Meril.

The girl had never quite understood why Hagrid had done that for her. Meril suspected, however, that it had to do with her defending him against a bunch of Slytherins who were calling him an oaf and such. Meril had seen Hagrid out of the corner of her eye after that, but had walked away before the man could say anything to her. She never knew how to act in those circumstances.

But ever since that day, the two had started having tea. In fact, Meril considered him the only adult she could _truly_ talk to. She could say more to him than her own mother, and that was saying something. In fact, more letters had been exchanged between Hagrid and herself over her two-year absence than there had been between her and her mom.

The only person she exchanged more letters with than Hagrid was actually Heather, who found time to write even though her schedule was tighter than Meril's other friends. Meril had always appreciated that, and secretly she was upset at how little she got from the others. She'd spend her free time writing out these lengthy letters and in return would receive only small responses. But of course it couldn't all be blamed on the others. Meril sometimes took ages to reply to a letter and by that time the conversation was…well, dead.

But _still_.

The next thing she knew, she was standing at the Entrance Hall. Her hand hovered hesitantly over the handle. The dementors...they were out there, waiting for someone to walk past, to feed upon. Meril shuddered. She'd just have to take a run away from them. That'd be the only way to escape. If she tried to ease her way around them, she just knew that they'd suck all the happiness up out of her and make her think only of the bad things. And she couldn't afford to think about her father's murder, not when she was already brooding on her rift with Heather, which she would no doubt be discussing with Hagrid.

Taking a deep breath, Meril closed her hand around the door handle and tugged it open. She didn't allow herself to stop and enjoy the lovely weather before sprinting out across the grounds to the little hut at the edge of the forest. Even when she was out of breath from sprinting and feeling light-headed as she past by the black-clad dementors, she didn't stop. She kept moving onward until she finally collapsed against Hagrid's front door.

"Who-who's there?" Hagrid stuttered. He opened the door a crack to peer out, but it opened completely as Meril fell onto the floor before him, groaning.

"Oh, it's just you," Hagrid said gruffly, helping Meril to her feet.

"Oh, thanks Hagrid. Good to see you, too," Meril sarcastically greeted, brushing dirt from the front of her clothes.

"Sorry. I thought yeh might be...never mind. So, do yeh want some tea?"

"Yes, please!" Meril exclaimed as she settled into a chair.

"Righ', o' course."

The giant of a man set to work on boiling tea; Meril watched a little helplessly, wondering what there was she could do to help. But every time she opened her mouth to ask, Hagrid would shake his head and insist she stay put, knowing exactly what she would say.

"Now, now, Meril. You just sit back and relax," Hagrid insisted, pushing some treacle tart towards her. "Yeh need yer strength."

Meril narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the treacle tart. "And why do you say that?" she asked, hesitantly reaching for the large square.

"Well...yeh know. The dementors and all. I heard all about yer collapse on the train and Madam Pomfrey was talking about yer collapse the other day..."

Meril shook her head disbelievingly. "Who told you about the train?"

"Professor Lupin, o' course. Yeh know he's the reason you did't get pulled ter Professor McGonagall's office; said yeh was fine after yeh had yer chocolate. Here's yer tea."

"Oh, thank you," Meril said gratefully, carefully sipping at the scalding tea. "Well, I'm glad I got to see the Sorting." Hagrid and Meril sat in silence for a while, carefully sipping the hot tea and eating the sticky treacle tart.

"So...Hagrid? Um, what do you have in store for our next lesson?" Meril asked, forcing her jaw to move.

"Well, I'm leaving the flobberworms to the third years, so I've decided that I'm gonna get some owls er something easy," Hagrid replied with a sigh; Meril knew he was thinking of the hippogriff incident he had had with the third years. She so wished she had gotten a chance with one of those. They sounded like amazing creatures.

"Sounds...er...interesting," Meril replied, doing her best to sound enthusiastic about the no-doubt _thrilling_ lesson. "Do you think we'll cover unicorns or something this year?"

Hagrid heaved a sigh; Meril took this as a no.

"So! Changing the subject! This treacle tart is really good!" Meril exclaimed, taking another bite. "Mmmmm!"

"Thank yeh," Hagrid said, a twinkle returning to his black eyes. "So how are yeh friends doin'? Heather and such..."

"Ah, I'm surprised you haven't heard. After all, you've heard everything else," Meril sighed, brushing her hair from her eyes. "Heather and I are in a terrible rift over something totally ridiculous."

Hagrid raised a bushy brow in response to this. "Wha' about?"

Meril sighed again and explained the situation to him. Hagrid looked confused by the whole matter.

"I guess it's a girl thing," Meril said hurriedly. "Girls are weird, vicious little people."

"I agree wit yeh there, Meril," Hagrid laughed. "But I don' see why yeh'd refuse to believe Heather!"

"I'm a _girl_, Hagrid! Not only that, but one who has a bit too much pride! Once I say something I don't dare contradict myself!"

"But yeh _are_ pretty!" Hagrid argued. Under normal circumstances, it would have registered as very weird to Meril for a teacher to call her pretty, but this was _Hagrid._

"Ugh, I'm so tired of hearing that. Heather, Alicia, Angelina, you...If Oliver agrees with Heather when I finally get around to asking him, and Cedric if Heather ever tells me, I swear I will go ballistic. Thankfully I don't have to ask the twins..."

"Speaking of those boys," Hagrid began thoughtfully, jumping right at the opportunity to change the topic. "Is there anything..._differen'_ goin' on with you and them?"

"Different? Like what?" Meril laughed, taking another sip at her tea.

"I dunno. I just saw yeh the other day...fooling around at the lake. Yeh seemed awfully close with them boys."

"That's because they're two of my best friends," Meril replied indifferently, shrugging. She felt her stomach churn uncomfortably though at the thought that someone would suspect anything else.

"I know that! But I got the impression that there was something else goin' on there."

"No, of course not!" Meril replied, hoping the break in her voice wasn't too obvious. Her heart began racing.

"Well, if anything ever does, yeh'll tell me, won't yeh?" Hagrid asked this as if he suspected Meril wouldn't.

"Of-of course I will," Meril replied, feeling her heart rate slow.

"And if they ever hurt yeh..."

"Hagrid!" Meril squealed indignantly.

"Now I'm not saying that it'd be intentional, Meril, but it happens!" Hagrid said fiercely. "People end up hurting people, and if they do anything to yeh....I'll be after them so fast..."

"You and my mom are _so_ ridiculous," Meril chuckled. "The twins are totally harmless. They couldn't hurt me. I'm," and at this Meril placed her fists on her hips and held her head high, "indestructible!"

"Everyone has feelins, Meril," Hagrid said in all seriousness. "And anyone can hurt them."

"But they wouldn't," Meril argued. She couldn't help it—it was an impulse.

"I'm not saying that they'd try teh, it jus' happens sometimes!"

"Okay, okay Hagrid! Settle down!" Meril said, shocked that Hagrid could get so persistent. "If they ever hurt me, I promise I will tell you. But you really shouldn't worry about it, okay? There's no way that they could hurt my feelings the way I think you're getting at. We're just friends."

"Well things change," Hagrid grumbled, and that was that.

The two sat in silence again. Meril refilled the teacups and then returned to her seat to let it cool down.

"So, is there anyone yeh _are_...interested in?" Hagrid asked suddenly; awkwardly.

"No," Meril quickly lied, shoving the freckled faces forcefully from her mind.

"Has anyone asked yeh on a date yet?"

"No, thankfully," Meril laughed.

"'Cause everyone's been staring at yeh, yeh know. I've seen 'em in class."

Meril shrugged, not wanting to get back on that sore subject again. "Yeah, well, the reason for that has not yet been clarified and I'm not going to jump to conclusions." She paused. "And not _everyone_ has stared at me. I mean, Lee hasn't....And neither has...well, Alicia and Angelina haven't! And um...I'm sure...No, they have. Well anyway! Not everyone has!"

"What about the twins?" Hagrid asked, bushy brows furrowed together thoughtfully.

_Back to that, hm? It's a merging of the topics!!!! Run for cover!_ Meril screamed inside her head and had to suppress a giggle. She entertained herself too easily.

"Well, they did this one time, but I really think there was something on me or something. We all know I can be a sloppy eater, and it was after breakfast. And of course, the twins would never _dream_ of telling me it was there."

"But--" Hagrid stopped and thought better of what he was going to say. "Yeah, yer probably right," he said instead, though Meril knew he didn't truly believe that.

"So. Where's Fang?" Meril asked, changing the subject again. She looked about the one-roomed hut eagerly, expecting to see the black boarhound and surprised he hadn't drooled a lake on her lap already.

"Oh, he's outside," Hagrid answered absently.

"May I?" Meril asked, sliding out of her seat.

"Go ahead! Just be careful; he'll jump on yeh."

Meril laughed. "Always!"

She then hurried out to the back where she was immediately jumped on by the large black dog. Meril laughed, pushed his paws off of her, and scratched behind his ears. His large pink tongue fell out of his mouth and he drooled all over the front of Meril's previously-clean clothes.

"Hey, Fang," Meril greeted sweetly. "It's been a while! Have you missed me?"

By way of answer Fang jumped up and licked her face.

Meril laughed and scratched his head some more then moved on to his belly. Fang fell onto his side and relaxed as Meril knelt beside him, scratching him with her stubby nails.

"He sure does like yeh," Hagrid commented, grinning.

"And I like him," Meril replied. "He's a sweetie." She then straightened herself up and smoothed out the wrinkles on her pants. Pulling her wand from her pocket, she got rid of the drool spot and smiled at Hagrid. "I should probably head back to the castle. It was really nice having tea with you. Um, sometime soon we should do it again, okay?"

"Of course," Hagrid replied gruffly. "Maybe next time we'll actually talk about yer absence."

"Oh I completely forgot! I'm so sorry! Next time, for sure. I'm sure you want to hear all the grisly details I left out of the letters," Meril laughed. "So soon, okay? Send me a note?"

"Course. G'bye Meril!"

The brunette gave the giant of a man a quick hug and a bright smile before scampering off to the castle. The sinking feeling in her stomach which she had been so happy to shed at the hut was slowly returning. Homework, stares, and constant reminders of her spat with Heather…that was what she was staring at as she ran towards the castle.

She was suddenly looking forward to her next teatime even more than she ever had before.

* * *

**a/n** not much of a point to this one, if I recall. But I wanted her to be friends with Hagrid. Maybe not as good of frinds as he is with Harry, but friends all the same. I didn't do much changing to this chapter. It's the same amount of pages as it was before I started the revision. I was really hoping I could cut a page off of this one. Crap. Ah, well. I hope you enjoyed :) Review?


	10. Dungbomb Queen

**Chapter Nine—  
**Dungbomb Queen

* * *

Meril woke up the next morning when the sun was barely brushing the tops of the trees. For a moment, she stared at the ceiling thoughtfully. It was too..._quiet_. And she was bored, oh so bored. She had been too well behaved during the first week, and she needed to start out the new one with a bang. But how would she go about doing that?

Then it hit her.

She had a _ton_ of Dungbombs hidden away in her trunk. All she had to do was get them out and go somewhere where almost everyone could hear. She wasn't going to risk doing it in the building--Filch would wring her by the neck without Hagrid there to save her. But outside...that was a different story. She could easily sneak outside and throw Dungbombs willy-nilly all over the place.

But she'd need some help. There was no way Meril could cover all of that ground by herself. So, grinning maniacally to herself, Meril got out of bed, grabbed a change of clothes from her trunk, dug a plastic bag of Dungbombs from the bottom, got dressed, and crept off out of the dormitory.

The plan was that she'd sneak up to the boys' dormitory, wake up the twins and Lee, distribute Dungbombs amongst the four of them, and then hurry outside. However, when she reached the Common Room, she discovered that Fred and George were already up, sitting before the fire and bending over something--again.

"Still working on pranks?" Meril asked doubtfully; every time the twins found her around while looking at that thing they'd hide it, and Meril just **didn't** understand why they wouldn't let her in on it if it was really pranks.

_It has to be something else_, Meril told herself, peering over their shoulders.

Fred took the parchment and folded it over.

"What are you doing up so early?" George asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," Meril retorted, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"We wanted to work in private," Fred answered, stuffing the parchment into the back pocket of his pants. "You?"

"I woke up. The silence is disturbing, and I've been thinking…I've been _way_ too good this week. I wanted to...stir things up a bit." She grinned widely; Fred and George saw the mischievous glint in her bright blue eyes, exchanged glances, and then grinned themselves.

"What did you have in mind?" George asked.

"Well, Dungbombs, of course, but suddenly that's seeming so...ordinary. I just had another idea. Do you guys have any Filibuster's?"

"Of course! They're up in our trunks," Fred replied. "We always keep some in stock," he added proudly.

"Good. Grab some--not many. I suggest we carefully stick a firework onto some of the Dungbombs so it's a double explosion. And then we'll leave some regular Dungbombs. What do you think?"

"I think that that's bloody brilliant! What with coming up with it on the spot and all," George added hastily, doing his best to cover up the way he had sounded; that had been more than awe in his voice.

"Why thank you," Meril beamed. "Now less talk, more action! We need to be getting down there before everyone's waking up!"

"Yes, you're right, Queenie!" Fred exclaimed, jumping to his feet. He and George saluted the petite girl and then rushed off to their dorm. As they went to retrieve the fireworks, Meril counted the Dungbombs. She had thirty, but she would only use fifteen, which would mean they would each get five. And it all depended upon how many fireworks were brought down that would decide how many of these Dungbombs would have an added bonus.

"Okay, we grabbed a couple, but we needed to have some for the rest of the year. How many do you think we'll need?" Fred asked, gently dumping the fireworks on the couch beside Meril.

Meril looked at the pile. Ten. Wordlessly, she grabbed six and set them on her lap beside the Dungbombs.

"Can you guys work on attaching the fireworks to the Dungbombs? I'll put all the extras away," Meril said, tucking some hair behind her ear.

"Sure," George answered, taking Meril's seat. "Come along Fred. The Queen sent us on a mission!"

"Yes, I did," Meril chuckled. "And make it fast! The sun is quickly rising!"

Meril grabbed the four extra Filibuster Fireworks and the bag of now fifteen Dungbombs and hurried first up the spiral staircase to the girls' dormitory to return the Dungbombs to the bottom of her trunk and then scampered back down the stairs only to go right up the boys' stairs.

Lee and two other boys lay sleeping on their four-poster beds, snoring as all teenage boys should. Meril snickered upon spotting the drool trickling down the side of one boy's face.

A battered trunk sat open at the foot of one of the empty four-posters. Assuming this was where the fireworks belonged, Meril threw the items in, but not before looking around the messy contents of the trunk.

"Probably Fred's," Meril muttered to herself, seeing how everything clothes and academic wise was thrown carelessly about, while all prank-related items were carefully piled to one side. Both of the twins had a messy tendency, but Meril recognized Fred's organizing when she saw it, and this was _definitely_ Fred's.

She shook her head to bring herself back to earth and then spotted the traditional Weasley sweater stuck in with all the other clothes. "Definitely Fred's," she confirmed, taking in the 'F'. She stared for a moment, unconsciously smiling to herself, and then closed the trunk and hurried back down to the Common Room, where the twins were eagerly waiting.

"All done, Queen," Fred declared with a snigger, bowing mockingly before Meril with George following pursuit.

"Good! But I was wondering...should we wake Lee to join the festivities?"

"Nah! He had a rough night," George replied, dragging Meril towards the portrait hole.

"Doing?"

"Chasing Angelina, o'course!" George answered cheerily, guiding her out the open hole that Fred held out for them so kindly.

"Ah, I see," Meril replied. She accepted the Dungbombs that were offered to her and wrapped them carefully in a rag before stuffing them in her pants pockets.

"So where will this lovely activity take place?" Fred asked, checking the hallway for Peeves, Filch, or Mrs. Norris. "All clear."

"Outside, possibly by the lake," Meril replied, struggling to keep up with the boys' long strides.

"Oh, you thought this all out," George teased, pinching her cheek.

"That I did, Lieutenant," Meril replied in her most professional voice, swatting his hand away which kept coming back for another pinch.

"How is that so if you just came up with it a few minutes ago?" Fred asked curiously, hopping over the trick step.

"I think things over **very** quickly, General. Now this interrogation is over; we're here."

Indeed they were at the Entrance Hall, which was, thankfully, completely empty. The threesome rushed over to the large front doors, which Fred, being the 'gentleman' he was, promptly opened.

As soon as Meril stepped into the cool morning air, she felt woozy. She stumbled backwards as she held her head. Someone was screaming. Were they saying anything? Meril couldn't tell. It seemed as if there was some sort of static interfering with the sounds.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" one of the twins whispered in Meril's ear; the static increased at the sound of his voice and soon the screaming was all pushed away.

Panting heavily, Meril looked over her shoulder. George had caught her and was holding her steady as Fred hovered in the background, looking equally as concerned as his twin.

Meril shook him off. "I'm fine. Now let's get this moving! Time is of the essence!"

The twins exchanged worried looks before moving slowly after Meril, who was hurrying towards the lake, trying to ignore the fact that the dementors were closer than usual.

"Wands at the ready!" Meril called, pulling out her first Filibuster-Dungbomb. Fred and George followed her example and, at the same time, the three all lit the ends of the fireworks on fire. They instantly started to fly about; one collided with a window and instantly exploded; a second landed on the roof; the last whizzed very close to a dementor before exploding over the lake.

"More, more!" Meril demanded, covering her face in case someone looked out to see what the commotion was. Knowing full well that people recognized them by their hair, the twins pulled their sweaters over their heads so that only their faces showed.

"Fire!" Meril shouted, chucking a simple Dungbomb in a random direction. The twins followed her lead; the three exploded right in a row, like a domino effect.

It continued like this until they ran out of Dungbombs. Then, knowing that probably the whole castle would be awake by now, the three sprinted to the castle, through the Entrance Hall, and up several flights of stairs until they reached the Gryffindor Common Room, out of breath.

"And this is where we part," Meril whispered. She hurried up the spiral staircase to her dorm and slipped under the covers of her bed, hoping that none of her roommates saw her.

No such luck.

"Where were you?" Angelina asked bitterly.

"Down in the Common Room," Meril replied without much conviction.

"Right, and Fred and George are little angels. Come on, spill. Was it you causing that commotion outside?"

"No! But I did hear that. Man, that was loud."

"And _stinky_," Angelina added, smirking. "Everyone knows your reputation, Meril. You _are_ the Dungbomb Queen. No one else would run around throwing the things."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Meril said airily, frowning.

"Oh come off it!" someone grumble from underneath their sheets. A moment later, Alicia popped up, her dark hair strewn all over her face and sticking up in the back. "Who do you think you're fooling?"

"Obviously not you two," Meril muttered bitterly. "It was worth a try though."

"Yeah, okay. So tell me, were Fred and George the mysterious figures running around with sweaters pulled over their heads?" Angelina asked, laughing slightly.

"Who else would it be?" Meril laughed, just realizing how ridiculous they must have looked.

"No one," Alicia answered firmly.

"Anyway, I'd better change. I feel all...well; you can imagine how I'd feel after throwing those things around, can't you?"

"Throwing what things around?" someone asked groggily from another four-poster bed. A girl with dirty-blonde hair popped up from under the depths of her covers, frowning. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, Hayley. Go back to sleep," Angelina sighed.

The girl nodded slowly and then fell back down on her bed. A moment later, snores could be heard from where she lay sprawled out on her bed.

"That girl," Alicia muttered resentfully, "can sleep through _anything_. A bomb could go off and she'd still be sleeping there, not even twitching."

"A bomb _did_ go off," Meril pointed out. "Several, in fact."

Alicia brushed this fact away. "I mean a **real** bomb could go off. Now please, change. I'm starting to smell the after-shock on you, and trust me, that is _not_ a fun thing to wake to."

"Technically, you woke to the sounds of them exploding," Angelina corrected, a smile twitching at the corners of her lips.

Alicia chucked her pillow at Angelina's head. It missed and instead whacked the other sleeping girl in the face.

"Who did that?" the girl snapped. It would have sounded much more threatening if a pillow hadn't been covering her face, muffling her voice.

"Alicia!" Meril quickly answered, earning herself a sharp look from the Chaser.

Meril grinned, winked, and then went off to change into a new pair of pants and t-shirt, throwing her filthy clothes onto the floor beside herbed.

She emerged a moment later in another black t-shirt, this time with moving text instead of the plain old blue that had been on the other.

"_Hard work has a future payoff. Laziness pays off now_," Angelina read, squinting in order to read the quickly moving text. "Nice, Meril. **Very** nice indeed."

"I know, right!" Meril exclaimed, grinning. "I found this phrase in one of the library books here. I wish I remembered which one it was…"

"How could you not remember the name of the only book you've ever read?" Alicia joked, poking Meril playfully in the stomach.

"Ha ha, Aly! You're _so_ funny. Anyway! I'm going down to breakfast."

As soon as Meril found herself back in the Common Room, she spotted the twins sitting on the couch, just as they had been earlier that morning.

"All hail the Dungbomb Queen!" they immediately chanted upon seeing her, falling onto their knees and bowing repeatedly.

"Oh, stop," Meril giggled, pretending to blush.

"If you insist," George shrugged, getting to his feet.

Meril punched his arm playfully. "You should know that when a woman tells you to do something she means the exact opposite!"

"Woman? I see no woman here," Fred said, looking around wild-eyed as he too got to his feet.

"You guys are horrible. Now come on. I'm hungry and need some breakfast in my stomach. And of course, a Queen can never go anywhere unattended."

"Well I really think that you can defend yourself," George grumbled; Fred stifled a snicker at this while George shrunk away from Meril's fierce glare.

"Thus proving his point," Fred commented

Meril sighed and rolled her eyes. "Come on guys! I'm hungry!" she whined.

"Yes George, _come on_. The Queen can't be kept waiting!" Fred ordered, coming up beside Meril and looping his arm through hers.

"_Thank_ you!" Meril sighed exasperatedly.

"My apologies, Your Majesty," George said humbly, bowing with a flourish. He then straightened up and looped his arm through Meril's free one, and the three marched out of the Portrait Hole for the second time that morning.

They walked on without speaking to each other. Fred and George would shoo any people blocking their path, saying things such as, "Move it along, sonny! You're in the Queen's way!" or, "The Queen doesn't appreciate your gawking--get out of the way!"

Well, that certainly **was** true. Meril hated the gawking and gaping and staring. She wasn't some exhibit at the zoo, for Pete's sake! Did Hogwarts suddenly loose all its manners?!

_Not that it had all that many to begin with, _Meril reminded herself as they approached the Great Hall.

"Ladies first," Fred said mockingly as he and this twin opened up the double doors with a bow.

There was a huge burst of applause from the Gryffindor table when Meril entered with the twins. The three feigned innocence, surprise, and curiosity. Meril looked around as if checking to see no one else came in behind them and Fred called out, "What did we miss?" This only made them applaud more. The three had to take seats before their grins gave themselves away.

"I know it was you," someone hissed in Meril's ear as she scooped some scrambled eggs onto her plate. "Don't even try pretending."

"Hello Amy! I'm surprised I haven't already seen you! How have you been?"

"I was fine until you got here," the older girl sneered. "How was boot camp?"

"Fun! Too bad you didn't have to go. You **really** would have enjoyed yourself! Now I'm trying to eat. Can you go? I don't want this delicious-ness infested with your nasty germs."

As usual, Amy was at a loss for words, leaving Meril wondering how she got into Ravenclaw. As she stormed back of to her table, Meril burst into a fit of giggle and turned towards the twins, only to find that they had disappeared. They were easily spotted, of course, but when Meril found them she wished she hadn't.

The twins were talking to a Hufflepuff girl, Jane or something, with long, curly black hair and long eyelashes. But that wasn't what really bothered Meril. The thing that made her sick was that they were looking at the parchment that Fred had had in his back pocket--_all together_.

No longer feeling hungry, Meril pushed her plate away and left the Great Hall. She needed to get it out of her mind, and there was only thing that could easily do it--Flying. She rushed to broom's storage closet, grabbed a Clean Sweep, and rushed to the Quidditch field.

It came as no surprise to her when she saw Oliver out sitting in the stands, looking over a poster.

"Hey Oliver!" Meril called, waving at him. He looked up, blinked, and smiled brightly before waving her over.

"What do you think of this?" he asked, thrusting the poster towards her.

"What's this?" Meril asked, dropping the broom on the ground.

"It's my strategy! Our first match will be against Slytherin, as usual, so I thought I'd devise a plan."

"Have you shown the team this yet?" Meril asked, pushing her stray hairs away from her head.

"No; I'm still working on it."

"Well how do you know I'm not some spy for Slytherin?" Meril asked, grinning.

Oliver laughed. "You're in Gryffindor; there's no way."

"Well...maybe I'm using the Polyjuice Potion."

"No one in Slytherin is smart enough to make that," Oliver said in all seriousness. "Now, please, what do you think of the strategy."

"Why are you asking me?" Meril asked quietly, the hurt she felt from the twins' actions throbbing in her heart. Why wouldn't they let her in on their plans, but Oliver, whom she was barely friends with, would?

"Because I value your opinion; you're excellent at Quidditch."

A large grin broke out onto Meril's face, as well as a blush. "Thanks," she mumbled. "Now let me look at this carefully..." A moment later she looked up again and nodded. "It's brilliant; you really know your stuff, Oliver, _and _your competition. This will work _perfectly_ against the Slytherins. And of course they're so thick that they wouldn't even figure out what you're doing," Meril laughed. "Just one thing though; your Seeker--what's his name again?"

"Harry," Oliver answered.

"Right, _Harry_." Meril shuddered. "Well you have him sort of involved in the main game here, which isn't a good idea. That would make him too easy of a target for the Bludgers. I mean he's only swooping down occasionally, and I see he's moving around the Beaters, as if trying to get them to hit _him_, but it really isn't a good idea."

"Right, right. I get what you're saying. I don't see why I...thanks Meril."

Oliver adjusted the poster with a tap of the wand and then looked around, searching for any more faults.

"So, when are you starting practices?"

"This Friday," Oliver mumbled.

"Cool..."

"Why don't you come?" Oliver asked suddenly, looking up. "You could check up on how well we're doing, and I'm sure you could give Harry some tips, if he happens to need them."

Meril smiled appreciatively. "Thanks, Oliver," she whispered, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Oomph!" Wood gasped. He sat awkwardly for a minute before hugging her back, patting her awkwardly.

"Now come on; forget about the strategy and let's fly some!"

Oliver looked uneasily at the poster before nodding in agreement. He cast two protective spells on the poster—one keeping it in place and the other making it appear blank—before feeling comfortable enough to leave it.

"Grab your broom, Ollie! Stop worrying about it!"

Oliver grinned, grabbed his broom, and joined Meril up in the air.

Flying was the equivalent of drinking tea, to Meril. As soon as she was in the air, she felt like she was escaping all of her worries. There was nothing to worry about anymore—no Heather, no Fred and George, no classes, no homework. All she had to think about was staying on the broom. And, with the wind blowing through her hair and Oliver there—trusting her, confiding in her—it was just what she needed.

* * *

**a/n **This chapter gives some more information on what she's like, what she was known for before she left, etc., and sets up for things which happen in later chapters. It all deals with the same thing, and it is something very major. So I hpe you enjoyed :) Reviews are always awesome.

xox


	11. Wanted

**Chapter Ten—  
**Wanted

* * *

For the rest of the day, Meril found herself avoiding the twins under the pretense of wanting to spend more time with Oliver, Alicia, and Angelina. And they seemed to believe her; didn't even question it as she walked away. They had no idea how much they had hurt her.

_How can they do that?! I am their **best friend** and they won't show me their plans, but they'll show that Hufflepuff! _

"Whoa--Mer, are you okay?" Angelina exclaimed, dropping her hair brush onto her bed.

"I'm fine," Meril grumbled, burying her face into her pillow. "Why?"

"Well you were just sitting there and suddenly your face got all contorted."

"This about the twins?" Alicia asked, peeking over the top of her _Standard Book of Spells (Grade 5) _to stare at Meril.

Meril rolled over onto her side and pulled the pillow away from her face. "Maybe."

"And that girl?"

"Yeah. And _what_ is her name?! Jane; Jamie; Janet?"

"Jennifer," Angelina answered blankly.

"Right; Jennifer," Meril sneered.

"Wow; you play the jealous girlfriend part **really** well!" Alicia informed her, laughing.

"Huh?"

"You sounded exactly like a jealous girlfriend right there," Angelina explained, smirking.

"Yeah, no…It's more of a 'Jealous Best Friend' type of thing going here. I mean, _seriously_! How could they go around showing their plans for prank-objects to people I'm sure they aren't _friends_ with, and not me?!"

"Pranks?" Alicia asked unsurely, exchanging a look with Angelina. "You didn't mention that part. Who told you that they were plans for that?"

"Lee. Why?"

Meril didn't see Angelina nudge Alicia in the ribs, nor did she notice the pained gasp Alicia let out before answering chokingly, "N-no reason! It's just that he--he wasn't supposed to tell you!"

"Well I wish he hadn't. It's totally ruining this morning's events."

"You just need to get your mind off it, Mer. _Stop thinking about it_," Angelina advised. "You not talking to the twins isn't healthy."

"Yeah...you're right..." Meril sighed. "I'm not ready to go back to them yet though. You know me; I'll start yelling at them, then I'll go find Jennifer and beat her up or something."

Angelina and Alicia exchanged worried glances before Alicia hurriendly announced, "I'll go talk to her," and ran out of the dorm, abandoning her homework to go out in search of Jennifer.

"What was that about?" Meril laughed, pulling her homework out from under her bed.

"She's going to warn Jennifer."

"About what?"

"To...stay away from you."

"Why? I promise I won't do anything to her...Once I clear my head, everything will be perfect and I will hold absolutely _no_ grudge against her! It was just a joke anyway, jeez. I don't do that anymore."

"Yeah, yeah; you say that, but who knows with you. You could run into her while trying to clear your head, your mind could fill back up, and you could start something. Trust me, Alicia is doing this not for the good of Jennifer--she annoys us both; such a _perfectionist_--but for **your** good. You need no more trouble."

"Oh yeah....about that..."

Angelina sighed. "_What_ did you do? Did you get in trouble for this morning or something?"

"Well..._no_. I was being a bit fresh with McGonagall on the first day, and I got a detention, along with the twins. Don't know when it is yet...but yeah."

"You _idiot_!" Angelina sighed, swinging her pillow at Meril. But Meril did a little dance to dodge it, ducked under her bed, and came out the other side.

"Now no more interruptions!" Meril ordered, settling down to do her homework.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril had skipped dinner, much to the shock of her roommates, to finish up her homework, which she _always_ did last minute. She ended up falling asleep, still dressed, on the floor, using her book as a pillow.

"Comfy?" someone asked, clearly holding in some laughter.

"Actually, yes," Meril replied, staring at the speakers feet as she wiped drool from her cheek. "Quite."

"Good," the person said. There was a flash of light and a suspicious clicking sound, followed by a fit of giggles.

"What was that?" Meril snapped, jumping to her feet. Alicia smiled guiltily back at her, holding her hands behind her back. Angelina came up behind Alicia and there seemed to be some sort of an exchange, because the next moment, Angelina was running away, cradling something in her arms.

Meril went to chase after her, suspecting that it was a camera, but Alicia held her back. Being a Chaser certainly had made her strong.

"You guys know I hate photos!" Meril cried, trying to break free of Alicia's firm grasp, but she held on tight.

"Oh no you don't!" Alicia laughed. "That was the _perfect_ picture. There's no way I'll let you get to it!"

"What are you going to do with it anyway?"

"Frame it, of course! Trust me, it was priceless. Now get dressed quickly, okay? I want to get to breakfast."

Meril hadn't even realized that it was morning. "You can go on ahead without me," she said indifferently, slowly pulling her uniform from her trunk.

"The twins are already down there," Alicia informed her. As usual, she seemed to know exactly what was going through Meril's mind.

"Okay; but you still don't have to wait. Please, just go down."

"Okay! I'm gone!" Alicia said, holding her hands up. Then she turned on her heels and hurried out of the dorm, leaving Meril all by herself.

Meril sighed and looked around the empty dormitory. She was surprised to see that Hayley wasn't still in bed; she was always sleeping. But no, for once Meril was the last one awake. She really didn't know how it had come to be morning, or why no one had woken her the night before. It was probably just because they had wanted a picture and it was two dark to take one at night.

As she slipped into her uniform she thought of the twins. She still hadn't gotten around to adjusting it, so it hung loosely over her body. If she didn't get to fixing it soon, they'd probably take it and line it with straw or something to make her look larger.

"They're crazy," Meril chuckled, putting down her eyeliner and picking up her hair brush. After quickly running it through her wavy hair, she hurried down to the Common Room, her stomach growling obnoxiously. But there was something odd which stopped her in her tracks—there was a huge crowd of people in front of the bulletin board. Something was going on.

"Look! There she is!" someone screeched, pointing right at Meril; the brunette froze. What did she do? Why were people staring at her in that hungry way?

"Get her!" another person screeched; he suddenly sprinted forward and leapt. Meril jumped to the side, avoiding the second year and allowing him to fall to the ground. But then all of the first and second years in the Common Room were running towards her, while the third years eyed her carefully. Any fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh year in the Common Room didn't _seem_ to be paying any attention, though they were all smiling as if they knew something the others didn't but were too amused to tell them.

"What is going on here?!" Meril squealed, dodging yet another attack. She slipped through the crowd of people staring at the bulletin board and saw what it was all about.

The twins had put up a little notice styled like an old fashioned 'Wanted' sign with a picture of her from that summer.

"Wanted," it read. "For offending Gryffindor Jokesters. 5 Galleon Reward. Turn in to Fred and George Weasley if captured."

"Mom," Meril growled. She ripped the sign from the bulletin board, much to everyone else's irritation, and stormed out of Gryffindor Tower. She hated to think that she'd have to ruin her lovely breakfast by yelling at the twins but...

This was _ridiculous_! People of all houses (all ranging between year one and three) came lunging at her from the most unexpected places.

How many had they posted, and **where** had they put these up?!

Mumbling incoherently under her breath as she ducked under yet _another _eleven-year olds' groping hands, Meril pulled open the door to the Great Hall and stormed over to the twins.

"**What** is the meaning of this?" she demanded, shoving the Wanted add into George's face.

"I told you it'd get her to talk to us, Fred!" George exclaimed, grinning at his brother.

"When you're right, you're right!" Fred said indifferently. He passed a sickle to his brother then resumed eating.

"Is that all this is about? Trying to get me to talk to you?"

"Well...yes and no. We were doing two things with this little poster," Fred answered.

"We did want you to talk to us, but we also wanted to see how many people would take this sort of thing seriously," George continued.

"Oh, trust me, _plenty_ did. You wouldn't believe how many little first and second years went after me. They must be really desperate for the money—which, by the way, only five galleons? That's all I'm worth to you?"

Neither twin was willing to supply an answer, but Meril decided not to pursue it; it was a very awkward question and she felt embarrassed for asking it.

After a brief silence, Fred cleared his throat and said, "I'm glad to hear that that was persuasive; we will have to try similar advertisements in the future. But, um…yeah, we mostly just wanted to see if it would get you to talk to us. It was George's idea."

"Oh, of course! Why _wouldn't_ you want to me to be annoyed with you and yell?"

"Well, we figured you already _were_ annoyed about something, since you wouldn't even **look** at us yesterday, so we thought we'd give it a chance," George explained. "Besides, having you yell is a step up, nay?"

"Whatever you say," Meril answered, shrugging.

"Why _weren't_ you talking to them anyway?" Lee, who had been silently observing, asked.

"Well...I wanted to spend some time with Angelina and Alicia," Meril squeaked, avoiding eye contact with any of the three.

"And did they order you not to look at any one else all day or something?" Fred asked wryly.

"I..._looked_ at you guys."

"Yeah, like _once_. And when we looked back you turned away. What's wrong? One minute we're out throwing things together, and the next you're off flying with Oliver then gossiping with Angelina and Alicia!" George exclaimed.

"Gossiping? Did Angelina say anything about me?" Lee asked, grinning in what was supposed to be a charming way.

Fred cast him a look that clearly said he wasn't helping.

"I was just upset about something..."

"Something involving us?" George asked; he had completely forgotten about his breakfast and was instead focusing intently on Meril, a frown set deep between his eyebrows.

"No! No, of course not," Meril lied. "I just didn't want to talk about it and I knew you guys would ask if you saw me, so I stayed away."

"But you talked to Alicia and Angelina?" Fred asked blankly, also abandoning his food.

"No! Well, _yes_, but not about it. They understood that I just wanted to get my mind off it so...yeah. I thought you guys would nag me so I....stayed away. And it seems like I was right, because you guys are nagging me about why I wasn't talking right now," Meril said, laughing uneasily.

"Yes but--"

"Did someone already give her to you guys? Did you already give out the reward money?" a first-year girl asked a bit disappointedly, interrupting their conversation. She was holding a reward poster in one of her hands.

"Um, yes, they did. Thanks though," Fred said distractedly, waving her away. When the eleven-year-old was gone, he broke into a grin and said in and undertone, "Little suckers. I swear, these people will fall for anything. Perfect people to test stuff on, don't you agree George?"

"I certainly do; and you Lee?"

"The best! You Meril?"

"Uh....sure."

"Right! So..."

"Good, you're all here!" someone else interrupted. The twins, Meril, and Lee all looked up to see Professor McGonagall staring them, the usual brisk expression set upon her face. "I would like to discuss your detention with you--no, not you Mr. Jordan. You don't have a detention. These three do."

"Right," Lee grumbled and turned back to his plate, grinning slightly to himself.

"It will take place Friday evening," Professor McGonagall said, getting right down to business. "The three of you will be working together--Oh don't give me that look, Miss Lizlow; I'm not always the horrible old cow you make me out to be--on cleaning library books for Madam Pince. She will instruct you on how to go about doing it on Friday unless she requests you earlier so there's more time to clean Friday. Now I will see you in class."

Fred, George, and Meril stared open-mouthed after Professor McGonagall, not believing their luck—or ill luck, whatever way you looked at it—with their detention.

"Well, all we really did was mouth off," Meril reasoned, considering this to be a lucky break, "At least she didn't have us do anything worse....Like, I don't know, hang from out ankles in Filch's office, like he wants."

"I'd rather sniff a troll than work with Madam Pince," Fred grumbled, looking at his food with distaste.

"Trust us, Mer; you'll feel the same after Friday," George said.

Meril, who had had plenty of detention—though fixing up books never among them—couldn't see how the twins thought this, but decided she'd rather not get into it.

"Right…So...I'll be off now!" Meril waved good-bye to her three friends and rushed off to the Gryffindor Common Room, where apparently the word hadn't spread that Meril had been 'turned over to Fred and George' because she was still being attacked every which-way she turned.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

After a horrible double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs--where Meril was reminded about the whole incident with Fred and George by seeing Jennifer and Heather kept shooting her desperate looks, which Meril misread and so snapped at her about, leading to an increase in their anger--Meril hurried off to her Arithmancy lesson back at the castle, leaving Fred, George, and Lee behind.

"I hope I remembered my homework this time," Meril said to herself grimly; she was constantly forgetting about it. So, with a sigh, she pushed open the classroom door and took her usual seat in the back to wait. The rest of the--very small--class was already seated there, glancing impatiently at their watches and the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. Meril followed suit and found that class should have started five minutes ago. What was taking so long? Professor Hopkins was usually early; she hated tardiness.

Just as Meril finished pulling out her books and the homework which she—thankfully—had remembered, the classroom door shot open and a _man_ entered the room wearing richly textured robes.

The man looked oddly familiar to Meril. He had thick golden-blonde hair and hazel eyes. His smile was familiar, too. It was warm and sincere, and there were little dimples in his cheeks.

"Hello, class! My name is Professor Spencer Chatham; I'm your actual teacher here. Professor Hopkins was just filling in for me while I was...absent. Sorry, sorry. As you may have guessed, I'm new here this year, though I have taught before. I'm sure the Headmaster mentioned me at the beginning of term, correct?"

People nodded assent all around Meril, but all she could do was stare at the man, dumbfounded. It had taken her a moment to process, but she knew who he was.

"Y-you!" Meril shrieked, shooting to her feet. She dramatically pointed an accusing finger at the professor, her bright blue eyes wide with surprise.

Spencer Chatham smiled warmly--if not a bit awkwardly--at Meril. "Why hello Meril--er, Miss Lizlow. Nice to see you again. I didn't know you'd be in my class."

Meril's eye twitched as she continued to stare at the man. Why hadn't he mentioned he was going to be teaching at Hogwarts?!

"Um...Miss Lizlow? If you wouldn't mind...sitting down, please? We should probably get started."

"Oh. Um...sure," Meril stuttered, clumsily sitting back down in her seat. Her classmates laughed openly at her. She felt her face turn hot but ignored it and focused her full attention on the professor.

"If you will get out your books, please!" Spencer Chatham said cheerily, smiling at the class again. He waited for the class to pull out their books, _Arithmancy for the Advanced (Volume Two)_ then asked, "Now where did you leave off with Mrs. Hopkins?"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril could barely pay attention during Arithmancy. She kept thinking about how Mr. Chatham, the guy who was flirting with her mom, was her _teacher_! And Melody _must_ have mentioned that Meril was going to Hogwarts if she was talking about her! How could he **not** say he worked there?!

Fuming, Meril made her way to the Great Hall for lunch, her stomach grumbling something horrible. She needed to talk to someone, but whom? The twins were out of the question—they were guys, they wouldn't understand—which made Lee a 'no' as well. Plus he'd probably be off chasing Angelina, which would make _her_ too preoccupied to worry about Meril, and Alicia would be helping her because the two were always together. They weren't nicknamed 'Double A' for nothing.

So who did that leave for Meril?

_No one_.

Sighing, Meril collapsed at the table and grabbed a double-decker sandwich. She was starving, but all she could do was nibble half-heartedly at it.

"Oh Meri—" Fred stopped his singing short upon seeing the long expression on his fiend's face. "Whoa. What's wrong with you? You look terrible."

Meril glared. "Nothing."

"Oh; just thought you'd go for a new look, eh? Trying out your options? I see. I've been considering going for the 'Thinker' look myself."

"Yes. That's it exactly."

Fred rolled his eyes. "Anyway! I was wondering…Would you rather be at a popular place or a not-so-popular one?"

"Depends. What kind of popular and what kind of non-popular?"

"The type of popular where people go to hang out and you enjoy yourself, and the non-popular where no one is there but creepy looking people you don't want to mingle with."

"Um...popular."

"Right. And would you prefer to be in with everyone else or slightly detached, like, in a separate room say, but still in said popular place with other people."

"Um...slightly detached so long as I had people with me and I had the choice of joining the rest of the place if I so wished. Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you asking, duh?"

"Um...to get you confused so that you wouldn't think about what's bothering you?" Fred replied, though he really seemed to be asking himself if that made any sense.

"Okay..." Meril said, not believing him. "You seemed to have the intention of asking me that when you came over though."

"Pig snout."

"_What_?"

"Higgledy-piggledy!"

"Excuse me?"

"The ants go marching three-by-three, hoorah; hoorah! The ants go marching—"

"Okay, okay, it's worked!" Meril interrupted, holding a hand to his lips to make him shut up.

"Excellent!" Fred exclaimed, grinning. "Now, George and I have some important business to attend to. Sorry, top-secret; can't tell you or I would." And he looked truly apologetic. "Talk to you in class!" With a wink, the red head was gone, off with his twin, leaning over that familiar piece of parchment. Fred whispered something to George, who nodded, and scribbled on the parchment with his quill. The two stared at the thing for a moment before heading over to the Hufflepuff table...

Meril looked away, fuming even more. She devoured her sandwich without even getting the chance to enjoy it and stormed out of the Great Hall. She knew who she needed to talk to about it all. There was only one person who could understand the whole Spencer thing as well as the Fred and George situation..._Heather._

Meril sighed and collapsed on the staircase. She put her fingers in her ears and closed her eyes, as if trying to close out everything going on around her, but that didn't stop her mind from working.

_Heather; Heather; Heather_ a voice chanted over and over again inside her head. **_Heather_**

**a/n** I cut a page off of this chapter--yay! Now all I have to do is cut one more page off of the next two chapters :) I am doing good!

Hope you enjoyed :)

Reviews appreciated :D

xox


	12. Green isn't Your Color

**Chapter Eleven—  
**Green isn't your Color

* * *

Meril just couldn't bring herself to talk to Heather. After everything she said to her, there was just no way to apologize, no matter how desperately she wanted to. And she **_really_** wanted to. She needed Heather to talk to—she was Meril's therapist, not to mention her very best and oldest friend.

So Meril went through the rest of the week with a fake smile, all the while struggling not to lash out at the twins every time she saw them with Jennifer and keeping herself from yelling at Professor Chatham for no reason.

And with her feelings bottled up inside her, she became very irritable and snapped at anyone who dared disturb her or make some sort of comment on her appearance.

Take George for an example. On Wednesday, he walked up to Meril during lunch and said, "You're looking particularly skinny today. What did you have for lunch?"

Meril retorted by snapping random things at him and making moves to hit him, which he, taken aback, avoided all but one of them, which hit him square in the eye. She mumbled an apology and then ran off.

And then there was _Fred_ who, that same night in the Common Room, remarked, "You haven't brought your clothes in like you promised you would. I swear you're looking more and more like a skeleton every day."

Meril hit him on the head with her Divination text book then stormed off to her dormitory with her books, treading on Harry Potter's foot on the way.

So by Friday, everyone had learned to be very careful around Meril. Fred and George tried to say as little as possible around her since they couldn't resist making jokes at her dispense, and Lee always started a conversation with a compliment and ended it by cracking a joke about someone else. Alicia and Angelina talked to her about anything that _didn't_ involve Meril, the twins, Heather, or Arithmancy, since Meril had let slip to them that those were the topics annoying her. And, of course, they _never_ interrupted her when she was in the middle of something. Everyone in Gryffindor knew not to do that.

Except one person, apparently.

It was Friday evening and Meril had just sat down before the fire to work on her homework. Fred, George, and Lee were huddled together in the corner, whispering to each other as they consulted a piece of parchment; Meril was doing her best to ignore them. She was still royally ticked off about that piece of parchement.

"Hey Meril! Can I talk to you for a minute or are you bu—"

"I dunno! Does it _look_ like I'm busy or am I just sitting around doing _nothing_ like those three?!" Meril snapped, her head jerking up. Her bright blue eyes were wide and one was even twitching. She pointed towards Lee and the twins, who looked up at the sound of Meril's voice. "_Well_? Aren't you going to answer the question Oliver?"

Wood stood still as a board, open mouthed, staring at Meril like she was some kind of monster. Meril stared back at him, bright, flashing eyes piercing into him. When he stayed silent for a couple more minutes, Meril heaved a sigh of annoyance and went to return to her work, mumbling incoherently to herself.

At last, Oliver found his voice and, before she could busy herself with homework--her only escape from the chaos of life besides her books--said, "The first Quidditch practice is tomorrow morning and I was wondering if you'd like to come?"

Meril slowly looked back up at Oliver, the tired look that had occupied her face for the past week slowly ebbing away as a smile broke out across her face. "I'd _love_ to," she breathed, collapsing back against the chair. Finally, something to look forward to.

"Great!" Oliver exclaimed, smiling too. He went to turn around but stopped suddenly. "Also, do you think you could stay afterwards? We could fly around together—I could test you on your Quidditch skills."

"Sure!" Meril chirped; Fred, George, and Lee all exchanged cautious looks before turning to look at Meril. It was good to see her smiling again, but the way she was smiling was scaring them slightly.

"I have to warn you though; I might be a bit rusty. I haven't been able to play Quidditch with anyone for a while."

Oliver shrugged. "Well we'll just have to polish you up then. I'm sure you can still play."

"Okay, thanks. See you tomorrow then. What time?"

"I'll just have Angelina wake you up when it's time."

"Okay, thanks."

"No problem. See you then!"

Meril smiled, nodded, and then turned back to her homework. A moment later the couch sunk in as three bodies joined her there.

"So, is your Reign of Terror over with now?" George (or was it Fred?) whispered in Meril's ear.

Goosebumps formed on Meril's arms, but she quickly rubbed them off. "Never. The Dungbomb Queen will never step down," she whispered back jokingly.

"Not **that** Reign of Terror—we don't want that one to end," the other twin said exasperatedly.

"We're talking about the one where you behead everyone who crosses your path!" the first explained.

"Yeah, the one where anyone who says one word too much is sent off to the dungeons," Lee added.

Meril shrugged, closing her untouched parchment in her Potions book. "We'll see, now won't we?"

"Well it _seems_ pretty over to me," Fred commented, draping his arm over Meril's thin shoulders.

"That's because..." Meril began to explain, but stopped short. How was she supposed to tell them that part of the reason she was in a horrible mood was because of _them_? There **was** no way. They wouldn't understand. No one would understand—not the way Heather would.

Meril once again scolded herself for getting into such a rift with her oldest friend. If she didn't have so much pride...

Meril forced the thoughts out of her mind with a shake of the head.

"So, what are you guys working on? I've been seeing an awful lot of that parchment around lately, and everyone seems to be in on it but me..."

"That's a secret," George replied, poking her playfully in the nose.

"Why can't I see it?" Meril pouted.

"Because it's a secret," Fred repeated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Does it involve me or something? Is that why everyone else in the world can know, but not me?" Meril asked irritably.

"In a way..." Lee replied hesitantly.

"What way?"

"Can't say!" Lee said with a grin.

"You guys are mean," Meril sighed. "And for that you must pay. Er....go fetch Alicia to put my books up in my room. There! Your punishment is over! Now I'm going to go for a walk! Later!"

Meril jumped to her feet and hurried out of the Common Room. She needed to get away from them before her bad mood set back in, and getting some dinner seemed like a pretty good excuse to leave.

Before she even took two steps towards the Gryffindor table, however, someone cut in front of her, and blocked her path. It was Amy Smith, and she was wearing her usual unpleasant smile on her face.

"Where are the boys?" she sneered, brushing her short, blonde hair out of her eyes.

"Common Room. What do you care anyway?"

"Oh, what a shame. I was hoping you'd gotten into a fight with them, too. I doubt you'd be so brave then."

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"I think you know," Amy said with a smirk.

Meril stared blankly at the seventeen-year-old Ravenclaw, wondering, as she often found herself doing upon their meeting, how on earth someone so _dumb_ had been put there. "No, I don't."

Sighing exasperatedly, Amy shoved a small piece of parchment into Meril's slender hands.

_Amy--  
Meet me by the lake tomorrow afternoon.  
We have some old things that need to be settled._

_--Meril  
P.S. Be prepared for a fight._

"Remember anything now?" Amy asked when Meril tore her eyes away from the parchment.

"Yeah...yeah, I am," Meril replied slowly, nodding. "I'm remembering why I always thought you belonged in the loony ward. I didn't write this!"

"It says your name!"

"Oh, big deal! This is obviously written by someone who just wants to see us both get in trouble. And if I were you," Meril paused, an image she quite liked of Amy sitting out by the lake, waiting for the writer of the note to come and getting attacked by a provoked Giant Squid, entering her mind, "I'd want to find out who was trying to trick me."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "_You're _trying to trick me," she accused.

"No! I'm just telling you what I'd do if someone had sent me a note like this!"

"Yeah...I'll get them. Thinking they can get the best of me...."

" 'Atta girl!" Meril exclaimed, stopping herself just before she pat Amy on the back encouragingly.

The Ravenclaw took a step forward and stopped. Slowly, she turned back around, an evil grin occupying her face. "Don't look at Heather if you don't want to be jealous."

"Okay. Thanks for the warning, Amy!" Meril said with a smile, purposefully not looking at Heather. She knew perfectly well what Amy had been trying to attempt, and she wouldn't be fooled. She took a step towards the Gryffindor table but was stopped by Amy calling after her.

"Aren't you in the least bit curious about _why_ you'd be jealous?"

"Nope!" Meril replied, turning and smiling falsely at Amy. "You aren't _trying_ to get me in a jealous rage by any chance, are you?" Meril asked sweetly.

As usual, the best Amy could come up with was a glare and a sneer before she stormed off, leaving Meril cackling happily to herself.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Meril kindly asked a first year boy. It was the only seat available, as far as Meril could see, that was away from her age group, which she was feeling a strong urge to avoid.

"G-go ah-ahead," the boy stuttered, blushing furiously. He scooted away from the empty seat slightly and bumped shoulders with a girl his age, who snapped at him, making him blush even harder.

Meril laughed slightly to herself and settled down in the seat. The food looked delicious, as always. She happily dug the serving spoon into some chunky mashed potatoes and dropped a huge pile onto her plate. Then she moved onto the meatloaf and the green beans. As she was about to dig in to what was promised to be a delicious meal, she spotted a plate of steaming-hot corn bread and couldn't resist. She grabbed four of the largest ones and put them down on her plate, finally ready to satisfy her grumbling stomach.

Though, she did feel a bit awkward eating as all the people around her stared. They seemed so much younger than Meril had remembered them. Was she that small when she was eleven? She looked down at herself and frowned; she probably was. She hadn't felt that small though. Or so nosy. Everyone around her seemed incredibly interested in the quantity of food on her plate.

Meril decided to ignore them and dug into her meal, each bite leaving her feeling hungrier than the last. But, just as she was finishing up her dinner, she heard something that made her appetite disappear—Fred and George were talking to someone—a _girl _by the sounds of it—and Meril suspected it was about what was on that parchment.

"No, **no** Jen! That pattern won't work!" one of the twins insisted.

"Why not?" Jennifer asked.

"Because. It just...doesn't fit!"

"What do you _mean_ it doesn't fit? It fits **perfectly**! _Everything_ matches this pattern!"

"Well then we'll have to make everything match a _different_ pattern because this doesn't fit _her_!" the other twin said irritably.

Meril glanced carefully over her shoulder, making sure they didn't see her because she knew they'd stop talking if they did. Jennifer was frowning down at the parchment, which, Meril noticed, had quite a lot of stuff written on it. She brushed a strand of dark hair away from her face and said, "Oh. Of course that's the reason. Well then...let's go figure something out that she _will_ like. Who would know?"

"We would!" George said cheerily, raising his hand.

Jennifer groaned. "Sorry, George, but I don't trust your judgment on designing stuff. Nor do I trust _yours_ Fred, so don't get all smug."

Fred scowled.

"Now, who would know besides you two? And please, a _girl_! She must have some girlfriends!"

"Well, she does, but...we can't risk going to Angelina or Alicia because there's always the chance she'll come in on that," George said reasonably.

"Anyone else?" Jennifer asked exasperatedly.

Meril didn't like this girl, and not just because she was hanging around the twins. She just seemed _bossy_ and mean.

"Well, there's Heather..." Fred said hesitantly.

"Perfect! I trust Heather's opinion one-hundred percent! Plus, she knows Meril better than _anyone_, right! Yes, I don't see why I didn't think of her before...Well, are you two coming or not?"

Fred and George rushed after the Hufflepuff girl down to the other end of the long Hufflepuff table, where Heather sat surrounded by a bunch of friends, smiling and laughing and cuddling with Cedric as if nothing was wrong.

Meril frowned as she stared down at her gravy-covered plate. She wasn't hungry anymore, she was just...curious. Pushing her plate away, she crawled out of the bench, smiled at the staring little first years, and walked slowly towards the doors, where she could witness what was going on.

However, she was caught before she could really over hear anything that was going on. She was moving slowly towards the Hufflepuff table when Heather turned her head and spotted her. "Meril!" she screamed, shoving the parchment under the table.

Immediately, Fred, George, and Jennifer whirled around and stared at her. "How long have you been here?" George asked quietly.

"Long enough to hear that the pattern that was chosen won't work and that you'll have to change it," Meril replied coolly. "Didn't hear anything over here though."

"I _told_ that that was her down there!" Fred snapped at George and Jennifer.

"What are you guys working on? What is this pattern?"

"That," Jennifer cut in curtly, "is none of your business."

"For now," Meril heard Heather mumble, though Meril didn't know when it _would_ be her business.

"And why not?"

"Because, Fred and George say so. Now excuse us, we have to get back to this."

Meril noticed that Jennifer seemed a little wary around her, and before she could even wonder why, she remembered Alicia's warning to her. Ha! She actually believed that Meril would beat her up...

_I may if she keeps this up,_ Meril thought, surprising herself.

"Please leave," Fred whispered, biting his lower lip.

Meril didn't budge.

Sighing, Fred and George both grabbed one of her arms and dragged her out of the Great Hall. She kicked and cursed them, trying to pry herself from their grip, but they were strong, and she was...well, she was a bit wimpy in comparison.

"Why can't I see them? **_Why; why; why?!?!?!_**" Meril screamed, tearing from their grasp at last.

"Whoa! Mer, chill out," George whispered, grabbing her by the shoulders.

"No! I know that you guys are making products or something....you know, your own Zonko's! Lee told me! But why are you letting everyone else see it, but not me?! I thought...I thought I was your friend. And that Jennifer girl...there's no way you're friends with _her_! She's bossy and rude and--"

"Hey, we're friends with _you_ aren't we?" Fred snapped, though he immediately seemed to regret it.

Meril's mouth clamped shut and she stared, hurt, at the two; they looked just as upset as she felt.

"Lee lied to you," George said hesitantly. "He was just covering up. He knows what it is."

"But Angelina and Alicia..."

"They were covering up, too."

"Oh, so does everyone know but me?"

"Not _everyone_," Fred answered, eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh, well sorr_y_! Who **does** know then?"

"Well, Lee, Heather, Jennifer, Alicia, Angelina....um...anyone else Fred?"

"I'm sure there is! Hagrid, maybe? Yeah, I think so. He's giving us permission to go to Hog—"

"Yes, I think he knows...Hm. Well, yeah, I think that's all," George interrupted, nudging Fred so that he wouldn't divulge any more information.

"Well why does it involve me?"

"Because," George replied, sticking out his tongue and poking Meril on the nose, doing his best to cheer her up. He didn't like to see her upset.

"That's not an answer."

"We'll tell you on your birthday," Fred piped up, winking at George.

"Yeah. Think of it as a…birthday present," George added, winking in return.

And with that, they left Meril, as if that answer should be good enough for her. Meril heaved a sigh and stormed towards the staircase. As she passed by the mirror, she swore she saw her eyes glow green, but it must have been her imagination, because when she looked back, they were still blue.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril wasn't exactly in a good mood when Angelina woke her up the next morning. She was annoyed at just about everyone, especially Fred and George. Everyone else had just been covering for them, but she still couldn't help being a little mad at the girls and Lee for lying to her.

"Come on, let's get some breakfast before practice," Angelina suggested, speaking to both Alicia and Meril.

"I'll meet you guys down there," mumbled the latter, falling out of bed.

Alicia laughed and shook her head. "Okay. We'll save you a seat," she said. She gave Meril another look before leaving, a smile on her face.

Angelina, on the other hand, didn't leave. She stared curiously down at Meril, who remained still on the floor. "You alright?"

"Just peachy!"

"Here, let me help you up," Angelina offered, her hand thrust outward. Meril hesitated before taking the hand, but when she did, she was promptly pulled to her feet.

"Thanks," she grumbled as she stumbled towards her trunk. "You should go have breakfast. I'll meet you there."

Angelina didn't move, just stared at Meril through her brown eyes. "You know, I'm here if you need me."

"Noted. But I'm...fine. Go eat."

Angelina hesitantly nodded and then ran off to join Alicia at the Great Hall. Meril sighed and sat on her trunk, clothes in her lap. She appreciated Angelina's offer, but she doubted she'd accept it. Angelina was one of her good friends, yes, but Meril always felt awkward talking to her about things, for whatever reason. And besides, this was something that only Heather could fix, because she was a miracle worker.

Sighing, Meril stood back up and changed quickly into a gray t-shirt that read '_I'd explain it to you, but your brain would explode'_ in flashing Technicolor and jeans. Outside, it looked a bit chilly, so Meril pulled her blue hoody from her trunk, tied it around her waist, and then proceeded with her morning routine. A couple minutes later, she was as satisfied as she'd ever get with her appearance and hurried out of the dormitory down to the Great Hall, her stomach growling.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

After breakfast, Meril followed the Gryffindor Quidditch team up to the field silently. As they walked, she noticed that she was friends with everyone on the team but two: Katie Bell and Harry Potter. She loathed Harry for reasons she both knew and didn't, but she had nothing against Katie. In fact, she remembered liking her, she just…didn't really know her.

"Okay, Meril! You go make yourself comfortable while we get ready!" Oliver ordered, smiling slightly at the ex-Seeker.

"I hope you brought lots of food, drinks, and a pillow," Fred sniggered.

"Because this may take a while," George finished.

"Oh, I remember Wood's pep talks and strategies," Meril said, grinning. "I just feel bad for _you_ guys—you have to listen. **I**, on the other hand, get to read." She waved her book in their face to taunt them. Angelina, Alicia, and Katie all looked jealous, but Fred, George, and Harry all looked as if they'd rather listen to Oliver until they died (which, depending on how long and boring his speech was, could be soon) rather than read more than they had to. Oliver just looked offended.

"I'm just joking, Ollie," Meril explained. "You know I _love_ listening to your plans. I'll just...go now. You enjoy yourselves." She winked ad waved at the team and walked off to the stands. She made herself quite comfortable in her sweatshirt before she began reading her book. She figured that she'd get a lot of it done that morning, but as soon as she finished the tenth page, she saw seven scarlet-clad figures carrying broomsticks marching across the field.

Looked like Oliver was determined to prove them all wrong.

"Hey—Meril?" Oliver called, pivoting around.

The brunette looked over the top of her book, eyebrows raised. "Yeah?"

"Would you mind releasing the balls from the crate?"

"Sure!" Meril exclaimed, glad she could be of some use. She stuck her bookmark into the book, set it down, and rushed onto the field.

As soon as she let the balls out, the seven players kicked off into the air. Meril watched them as she backed towards her spot in the stands.

The practice was amazing. Oliver really had put together an excellent team. And Harry was, Meril **hated** to admit it, a far better Seeker than she had ever been.

That fact certainly didn't improve her mood.

Right at the beginning, Meril was the cause of George nearly getting hit in the head with a bludger. She had accidentally been distracting him—though she wasn't aware of it—and he didn't notice when Fred hit the bludger toward him. At the last second, though, Fred came and hit the bludger away again.

"George! Pay attention!" Oliver ordered.

George blushed and looked away from Meril to get back into the game.

"Yeah, Georgie! You don't need any more injuries! Remember your hand?"

George didn't reply, so Meril remained silent for the rest of the practice, watching carefully. It really was a great strategy; Wood did have a talent for that.

"Okay! We're done for today!" Oliver exclaimed once 11:30 rolled around. The seven team-members flew to the ground and jumped off their brooms, their exhaustion clear on their faces.

As the other six hurried towards the locker rooms to change, Oliver stayed behind and put the balls back in the crate. He then approached Meril, smiling.

"How did it go?"

"Being as unbiased as I can possibly be, I must say it was wonderful," Meril exclaimed. "You sure do have a great team."

"The best since Charlie Weasley," Oliver said, proud. Suddenly remembering that Meril was a Seeker before Harry, he hurriedly added, "Besides you, of course!"

"No, no. It's okay. I know this team is better now than it was. I _accept_ that, though I can't say I like it."

"Okay," Oliver said, relieved. "You **were** a brilliant Seeker though."

"Just not as brilliant as Harry," Meril stated bluntly.

"Well, yeah...I guess."

"Anyway, why were you guys practicing in your robes?"

Oliver shrugged. "I guess it makes us feel more into it; I don't know, actually. I thought it would be good for a first-practice. Get them in the mood."

"Okay. Now are you going to be staying in yours or...?"

"Right! I'll be back in a few minutes!" Oliver ran off to the locker rooms to change into something else before flying around with Meril.

Meril laughed and rolled her eyes at him before returning to her book. She had barely read five words when two people came marching up beside her, blocking her light. Sighing exasperatedly, she looked up and found Fred and George. They stood staring down at her with their hands placed on their hips.

"You nearly cost me my head," George accused.

"Did not!" Meril exclaimed. "Did I ask you to watch me watching you? **No**."

This stumped George. He stood silently, face screwed up in thought, as Fred and Meril sniggered loudly at him.

"Anyway," Fred began, cutting his laughter short and taking on a more serious tone. "I'm really sorry about the whole parchment thing yesterday. Jennifer can be a bit of a b—"

"I'm here!" someone exclaimed breathlessly. "Sorry it took so long. I was watching from a window as you guys practiced and decided not to come until I saw you come down!"

"Well speak of the devil," Meril muttered none too quietly.

Jennifer looked over at her, eyebrows furrowed, as she caught her breath. Meril stared back at her intensely, and she swore she saw Jennifer flinch.

"I'm not going to hurt you, for Merlin's sake!"

Jennifer looked reproachful. "Who said you were going to?"

"You seem to think I will. You sure are heeding Alicia's warning, aren't you," Meril laughed. "I'm not going to do anything."

Jennifer wasn't reassured. She continued to watch Meril warily before, very happily, she turned away from the Gryffindor's penetrating stare and looked at the twins, who were watching the two girls intently. She smiled brightly at them and clapped her hands together.

"Okay! So, I'm ready!"

"Jen—may we call you Jen?" Fred asked, exchanging a glance at with George and a wink with Meril.

"No, you can't," Jennifer replied curtly.

"Okay, than! Jen, we were kind of hoping that today we could spend some time with our friends rather than...work on that!"

"Fred, George--come here," the snobby Hufflepuff ordered, beckoning the two away from Meril.

"Look, you two. It is September twelfth. We only have a month and three days to finish, if we're to finish by the time you want to. Actually, less than that if we want to be completely done by the time we order what we need to. After that we—"

"Shut up, _Jen_!" George hissed. "She can hear you!"

Jennifer cast a sidelong glance at Meril, who was very obviously listening in on the conversation being held so close to her.

"Right. Anyway, my point is that we need to get this done, and I'm available _now_. I don't know when I'll be available again in the near future what with all the homework we're getting, and we still have _a lot_ to do! Now, come on!"

Fred and George sighed exasperatedly but agreed. Jennifer smiled triumphantly and turned.

"I'll meet you back at the castle, okay?" she chirped. She then walked carefully towards Meril and whispered, "Sweetie, green isn't your color," a smirk on her face.

"Green?"

"Oh, I think you know what I mean. I've been seeing you in it for a while now, and I must say it doesn't become you."

"You're too into your designing," Meril sighed. "And I'm not wearing green. See?"

"No, no. Not your _clothes_. You won't find it there. It's right," and Jennifer then pointed at Meril's eyes, "_there_." Meril looked ready to kill her; Jennifer backed away. "Right! Well, I'll be going now! Hurry up you two!" She smiled at the twins and ran off, casting a wary look at Meril on her way.

Fred and George muttered rude things about her incoherently under their breath.

"I've never met a Hufflepuff like her," Fred exclaimed, astounded, as he approached Meril at the stand. "She's just so..."

"Horrible? Mean? Rude? Bossy?" Meril suggested indifferently, expecting her nails. "Please, stop me. I could go on for hours."

"And you barley know her! Impressive," George commented, smiling.

"It's a gift. Now you two better hurry off or she'll have a hissy fit. Honestly I don't see why you put up with her!"

"You'll see on your birthday," George whispered, and for once it was _he_ who received an elbowing in the ribs. "What? We already told her we'd say what it was all about then!" George exclaimed, but Fred shook his head.

"You might give something away," Fred hissed in return. He looked up at Meril then and grinned. "Yes, we'll be going then. Sorry we won't be able to escort Your Highness back to the castle."

The twins bowed low to Meril, who laughed. "No, I shall be fine. Go and take care of your mission, then, brave knights!"

"As you wish," George said. He grabbed Meril's hand and kissed it gently.

Now Meril knew it was all part of the joke, but she couldn't help blushing. George grinned at her flaming red cheeks and then galloped off after Fred, leaving Meril to her racing mind.

"What was all that about?"

Oliver Wood's voice broke through Meril's thoughts and brought her back to earth. She looked over at the Keeper and a smile tugged at her lips.

"What? The bowing and the kissing and stuff? That's just part of a _long _joke. Anyway! You ready?"

"That's my line," Oliver frowned. "But yes, I am. Let's see how rusty you've really gotten."

"It's scary, I assure you."

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Come on. Let's get this going; it can't be _that_ bad."

Meril grabbed the broom Wood had left for her and kicked off into the air. As usual, all her worries seemed to float away in the breeze. All except for one. In the back of her mind, she could hear Jennifer's nagging little voice saying, "_Sweetie, green isn't your color._" But soon that too was gone and all that was left was Quidditch.

* * *

**a/n **I cut a page off of this one, too! I am back on track for pages :D I know this doesn't really affect anyone reading this, especially since I will be done before anyone sees this, but I just feel the need to give updates. I hope you enjoyed; just one more chapter to update, and then I can get back to working on a new chapter for this, and for my new NevillexLuna fic :)

Reviews=Love :)


	13. The Boggart

**Chapter Twelve—  
**The Boggart

* * *

In Defense Against the Dark Arts on Monday, Professor Lupin decided to see how the fifth years would fend against the boggart, which had only previously been discussed when he talked about his third year class. Meril wondered what that would be like after dealing with grindylows, hinkypunks, barlowers—which were enormous, bat-like creatures with blood-red eyes and fangs the size of a baby's hand which can read minds and memories and lure people to them using the voice of a loved one—and basilisks, though he didn't bring any of those in, for the past two weeks.

"Okay, class! Leave your bags here and follow me!"

"Where are we going?" Lee called out, pushing his dreadlocks out of his face.

Professor Lupin smiled at Lee before replying, "It seems there's another boggart around, and I asked Filch not to do anything. I thought, since you guys seemed so interested when I talked about my third years, that you'd like to give it a try?" He raised his eyebrows and looked around at the students quizzically, as if asking them if he was right.

He was.

They followed the scruffy teacher down to the dungeons and into a large, unused room. Dust was covering everything. Cobwebs decorated the walls. Tables and chairs had been pushed up against the cold stone walls. A lone trunk sat in the center of the room.

"In there," Lupin said and pointed to the trunk, "is the boggart. Now, I'm sure you all know what a boggart is, correct?" The class all nodded and a few people could be heard as they muttered assent. Lupin smiled, pleased, and continued, "But, I'm going to ask anyway, just to clarify it. Please, can someone tell me?"

Alicia's hand shot into the air and Professor Lupin nodded in her direction. "Go ahead, Miss Spinnet."

"A boggart is a creature that takes the shape of what frightens the person who stands before it most," she answered matter-o-factly, flicking her black hair from her face, a small smirk tugging at her lips.

"Excellent! Five points to Gryffindor. Now, who would like to volunteer to go first? Mr. Gunderson? Go ahead."

Meril's fellow Gryffindor fifth year, Scott Gunderson, a tall, wiry guy with shaggy sand colored hair, stepped forward. Lupin signaled for him to step in front of the chest.

"Good. Now, think of what you're most afraid of and then think of what would make it funny. When you think it will work, say _Riddikulus_. Everyone try it!"

"_Riddikulus!_" the class chorused.

"What are you guys most afraid of?" Meril whispered to her three male friends.

George's face tinged pink and he looked away, muttering some gibberish under his breath. Fred and Lee just shrugged.

"Okay, Scott! What do you fear most?"

Scott thought about this for a moment before answering confidentially, "Skeletons!"

"Now, picture how your mother dances to her favorite Disco songs," Lupin ordered, a smile twitching at the corner of his lips.

Scott snorted with laughter and nodded.

"Now picture the _skeleton_ dancing like that." He paused. "Are you ready?"

Scott nodded with a determined look on his face. Lupin bent down and opened the chest; immediately a skeleton burst out, its old, decaying bones jangling as it moved towards Scott.

"Think of the dancing now!" Lupin ordered. He then looked at the rest of the class and signaled that they should move back. "Now say it!"

"_Riddikulus! _" Scott bellowed, pointing his wand at the skeleton. Immediately the off-white collection of bones began doing to the Disco—**poorly**. Its bones creaked and squealed as they moved and jangled as they hit each other.

"Next! Miss Johnson!"

Angelina stepped forward and the skeleton turned into a butchered leg hopping towards her, leaving bloody footsteps in the ground. Angelina whimpered as she pointed her wand at it, her hand shaking.

"_R-r-RIDDIKULUS_!"

A beagle came running and grabbed the leg between its teeth before running off with it.

"Mr. Jordan!"

The zombie that emerged quickly fell apart, landing in a pile on the floor, just a collection of old body parts.

"Miss Dobson!"

Hayley, the girl that could sleep through anything, stepped forward, twisting her finger around her dirty-blonde hair nervously. The remains of the zombie turned into a barlower, much to the class's terror. Hayley was quick to stutter out a '_Riddikulus_'. The thing's fangs fell out of its mouth and it was left fluttering helplessly around the room.

"Miss Haelstrome!"

A wide girl with blonde, knotted hair stepped forward; her name was Caitlin, and she was the person Meril forgot about most when she was thinking about her class. She was Meril's quiet roommate and was friends with Ravenclaws, whom she spent all her spare time with reading. That was why it was such a shock to the class that a stack of books should take the place of the barlower. The top book flipped open and it began screaming then fell off the pile; the second book opened and—

No one got to find out what it did because Caitlin screamed, "_Riddikulus_!" before it could do anything and a flame came and devoured all of the books.

"Mr. O'Gorman!"

The final Gryffindor fifth year boy stepped forward, a boy of average height with black hair. He stared hard at what was now a giant squid. Its tentacles were squirming about wildly, and this seemed to give Shane inspiration. He shouted the magic word and the thing's tentacles got all tangled up as it attempted to juggle.

"Miss Lizlow!"

Meril's stomach lurched as she stepped towards the squid. She took her wand out of her pocket and prepared herself.

BANG!

The squid was transformed into a swarm of moths, all five-inches in length with squirming legs and huge eyes. They flew towards Meril and she seemed to lose her voice.

"Come on Meril! You can do it!" Professor Lupin shouted encouragingly.

Easy for him to say; he wasn't about to be attacked by a bunch of hairy insects.

"_Riddikulus_!" she screamed; the moths' legs and wings simply fell off, and the bodies followed them to the floor, not being able to move anymore.

"Ew. That's gross!" Alicia squealed, jumping backwards.

"Mr. Weasley!" Lupin called, laughing slightly at Alicia's squeal. "No, not _you_. The other Mr. Weasley."

Fred retreated and George came forward. What was once moths became a person, but not just any person—_Meril_.

The whole class was curious about this, wondering why _he_, her best friend, was scared, but then the fake-Meril started to talk.

"I'm sorry George, I'm just not inter—"

"_R-riddikulus! _" he stuttered, and suddenly there was an extra Fred, an extra George, and an extra Lee. They all carried Dungbombs, and they chucked them all at once.

The bombs exploded in the fake-Meril's mouth. The noise that made was nothing compared to the laughter that erupted in the room. The class was practically choking with laughter and even Meril managed a chuckle, though she had to resist the urge to gag; she could almost taste it in her mouth.

"Mr. Weasley! Yes, you this time Fred!" Professor Lupin called out over the roaring laughter, smiling himself.

The class's laughter subsided to a chuckle as they awaited Fred's boggart. He stepped forward confidentially; he didn't even give a noticeable wince as what he feared most—a _munchkin_--appeared.

"_Riddikulus! _"

The munchkin grew three feet to an average height, and the class laughed at just how absurd it was.

Lupin chuckled. "Excellent job, everyone!" he called, stepping forward and getting rid of the boggart before anyone could even see what his fear _was._ "Ten points to Gryffindor!"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"I can't believe I was taken down by my own weapon," Meril grumbled as she and the others headed down to lunch. "Why would you do that?"

"Fight fire with fire," George replied, indifferently. "Or in your case, fight Dungbombs with Dungbombs."

"Nah, I don't think you used that logic. You were just too frightened of me to think of any other attack. Is that it?" Meril teased, poking his nose.

George scowled, blushing slightly. "I'm **not** scared of you."

"Yeah. He must be scared of what you can do to him. Didn't you notice that the boggart was talking?" Lee pointed out.

"Now _that's_ logic!" Fred exclaimed. "I didn't even think of that."

Meril frowned. "Neither did I. What was I saying to you George? Is that what you're afraid of? What I was saying?"

"No! The boggart must have been glitching. Yes, that's it. It was confused after being defeated so much...." The blush was rapidly increasing, crawling across every inch of skin.

"Okay; if that's the case, what do you _really_ fear most?" Meril asked doubtfully.

"George isn't scared of _anything_! He's too brave!" Fred said mockingly, fluttering his eyelashes and looking wistful.

"He's right!" George declared, throwing his bandaged fist in the air.

"Ha, ha. Yeah right. And I hope it isn't something ridiculous!" Meril cast an indiscreet look at Fred at this.

"Moths," Fred retorted.

"_Munchkins_!"

"That **is** pretty ridiculous, Fred," Lee stated.

"Hey! I'm not the one who's afraid of a....zombie!"

"But that's normal. Being afraid of munchkins is just...weird...."

"_Moths_, Meril, _moths_!"

"Giant, rabid, rats! That's it!" George interrupted a finger in the air.

"What is he talking about?" Meril whispered at Lee; he shrugged.

"What I'm most afraid of," George replied, looking slightly offended that she could forget so easily.

"Oh, yeah. What was it?"

"Giant, rabid, rats," George repeated. "They're creepy."

"What about regular rats?" Lee asked.

"They're not as creepy."

"We live with Scabbers and you never seem freaked out," Fred said, in awe about this new thing he had just learned about his twin brother.

"Yes, but Scabbers is a _normal_ rat. A little worn, granted, but pretty average," George pointed out.

"True that, true that...."

"But, seriously Meril, moths?" George said suddenly, going back to that topic.

"Exactly my point!" Fred exclaimed. "It just isn't natural to be afraid of moths!"

"Says the guy whose greatest fear is **munchkins**," Meril replied blankly, inspecting her nails.

"Yeah, that's not normal either..." George agreed.

"Hey, you're afraid of Meril!" Fred retorted.

George heaved a sigh. "I thought we already established that I am **not** afraid of Meril, or anything she can say to me, but of giant rabid rats!"

"And _that's_ normal?" Meril snorted. "Seriously, how often do you see those?"

"Not often, but the thought of them is..." A shudder was sent down his back and he cringed.

"Still, it's a bit…unrealistic, don't you think? And so specific! Giant rabid rats! That combination just….I really don't think you have anything to worry about. But _moths…_those are real! They're hairy and gross and the multiply like _crazy_! That is a reasonable fear."

"It's an insect, Mer. It's not going to harm you," Lee pointed out.

"Zombies aren't even real," Meril retorted.

"Well, if those are your standards, than everyone's fears were pretty bizarre, weren't they?" Fred cut in thoughtfully. "A live skeleton, a severed leg, a pile of books, a barlower…Really, the only reasonable ones were the squid and…well, George's."

"I told you, that w_asn't my—" _George interrupted, frustrated, but Fred waves him off.

"Yeah, yeah. Well, the _glitch_. Being afraid of a person, or what they can say or something, doesn't that make more sense than being afraid of something which, chances are, you will never come in contact with?"

Before anyone could make a reply to Fred's surprisingly insightful little speech, Professor McGonagall appeared around the corner.

"Miss Lizlow! Misters Weasley! I actually was hoping to run into you three. Are you on your way to lunch?"

"Yes, we are Professor," Lee replied.

"Well, I won't keep you, but please stop by my office afterwards. No, not you Mr. Jordan. Just these three. There's no need to look left out," she cried, seeing his face, "It's about their detention!"

"Ugh. I thought we were getting off easy on that," Fred groaned.

"It clearly said in the letter that it would be _postponed_. Not **canceled**, Mr. Weasley. Now go eat your lunch."

And Meril swore she heard the woman mumble, "Some of you need it," before walking off, though it could have just been her imagination.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

After lunch, Meril and the twins headed to McGonagall's office slowly, hoping to get out of some of their next lesson. When they got there, her office door was closed. Meril stuck out her hand and rapped on the oak door with her knuckles.

"Come in!" the professor sighed; Meril and the twins burst through the door.

"We have arrived!" George exclaimed, flicking his long bangs from his hazel eyes.

McGonagall glared at the Weasley boy from over the rim of her rectangular spectacles. "Yes, I see that," she said curtly, putting a stack of papers aside. "Please, have a seat." She pointed to the three chairs before her desk, which the three hesitantly sank into.

"As you know," the tight-haired woman began, staring hard at them, "you are here to discuss your detention. Now I am correct in saying that you all got the letter I sent to you regarding last Friday?"

"Yes," Fred and George said in unison, while Meril scowled.

"No," she grumbled. She recalled how she had headed down to the library on Friday and found that Madam Pince was not there, but in the Hospital Wing, sick with a bout of the Flu.

"Ah, yes. Sorry about that Mer," Fred sniggered.

Meril glared. "_You_ intercepted the letter?" she accused coldly. "Even though you knew I was in a bad mood?"

"We never thought you'd find out!" George explained, grinning wickedly at her.

"Why you little—" Meril began, lunging towards the twins, but McGonagall pulled at her robes, stopping her.

"Miss Lizlow, _please_!" she shrilly exclaimed. "You should know better than that by now." The professor gave her a stern look.

"Sorry, Professor," Meril whispered, shrinking under her gaze. She sat back down and waited patiently for her professor to get to what she had summoned them for.

"Thank you. Now, your detention will take place Saturday morning, but you are to go to the Library Friday after your classes so that Madam Pince can instruct you on how to go about taking care of the books, understood?" The three remained silent; the twins grimaced at the prospect of spending two days in a row with the bitter librarian. "_Understood? _"

"Yes, Professor!" the three simultaneously sang, exchanging grins.

"Good. Now, go on off to your classes. But first," and the woman quickly wrote a note, "take this. Give it to your teacher. It explains where you were."

"Thanks, Prof," Fred said his grin widening.

McGonagall's face hardened and her eyes flashed in Fred's direction. "Go to class," she repeated, rubbing her tired face with her hands.

With a little finger waggle to her teacher, Meril got up from her chair, and the three left just as they had came.

* * *

**a/n **I think I am feeling much better about this one now. It JUST fits its page limit, but it fits, which makes me happy**, and**...yeah, I just feel that it is much better than it used to be. I hope you liked it; the chapters after this one are _so _much better than these past ones. Even though I revised all of these, I didn't completely redo them, so they still aren't, like, the best. But, still. Reviews are always appreciated!

xox


	14. Detention

**Chapter Thirteen—  
**Detention

* * *

Friday came very quickly for Meril, which was odd seeing how the days leading up to it seemed interminable. She was spending more time with Alicia, Angelina, and Oliver, and less with the twins and Lee because, even though she knew she'd learn what it was they were looking at eventually, it still gave her a pang to see them with that Jennifer girl. They had stopped questioning her, though, because all they'd get was an irritable snap of "I have other friends, you know!" or something of the sort.

But she wasn't mad at them. She really wasn't. She just needed to cool off. Again.

And it was only when that bloody Hufflepuff Jennifer was around that she blasted off the handle. Whenever it was just the three--or usually four--of them, she was in a perfectly good temper. But if the parchment or Jennifer were around, or even talked about, Meril's good temper deflated leaving her quite sourly.

Sighing, Meril pushed her scrambled eggs around on her plate, suddenly not feeling hungry anymore.

"What's up with you?" Alicia asked, catching sight of her sad expression.

"What? Oh, nothing..." Meril replied glumly. She dropped her fork and merely stared at her plate. The food looked appetizing, but she just wasn't hungry.

"Good morning Meril!" a familiar voice greeted, breaking her from her trance. She gave a start and looked around to find herself staring up at Oliver Wood. She smiled half-heartedly at him and then looked back at her plate. There her eggs were, untouched but for the swooshing around, just as she had left them. And there was the buttered toast with the crust already cut off but barely a bite taken out of it.

"Err...are you alright?" he asked, slipping into the empty seat beside her.

"Oh I'm fine! _Wonderful_ really!" Meril said unconvincingly, flashing Oliver the most charming smile she could muster.

Oliver stared her down, frowning.

"Oh, fine! You win!. I'm feeling a bit..._glum_."

"Why?"

"Oh, things just havent been going as I'd hoped they would, that all. For starters, Heather and I are having a bit of a rift, as I'm sure you've noticed, and..." Meril trailed off.

"And?" Oliver pushed; Meril glanced over his face. He was **actually** concerned. Meril was touched. She genuinely smiled at him and shook her head.

"Nothing. Just silly stuff. Now I got the impression you wanted something from me when you came over. What is it?"

"Oh! I was just wondering if you'd be coming to the Quidditch practice tonight?"

"Sorry, Ollie. I can't," Meril replied, her frown deepening. "Fred, George, and I got detention last week, but it got cancelled because Madam Pince was feeling a bit..._under the weather_. So now we have to go down to learn from her how to fix up the books, and I have no idea how long that will take. Plus I need to get to bed early because the actual detention is tomorrow and it's going to be early in the morning; I just feel it."

Oliver frowned. "It won't be the same without you there," he commented.

"You survived two years; I think you'll survive one more day. I've gone every other time."

Oliver smiled. "True. But did you say Fred and George?"

"Yup. Unless it doesn't take too long, you are going to be short two beaters tonight."

Oliver cursed under his breath. "I'll talk to Madam Pince. Maybe I could get her to let them off and then you could just...?"

"If you actually succeed, sure I will. But Madam Pince..." Meril laughed bitterly. "I don't think she cares about Quidditch. In fact, I bet the only time she watches it is if it's in the pages of a book."

Oliver scowled. "Probably. But it's worth a shot..." He glanced down at his wristwatch after managing to get out of his seat. "I should get going. I need to get my stuff. I'll see you around."

He swooped down then and gave Meril a quick kiss on the cheek, leaving both of them stunned.

"Um, right. I'll just...go now!"

And then Wood rushed off, leaving Meril alone with her stomach squirming as she stared at her plate.

"What was that?" Angelina asked suspiciously, smirking at the red-faced Meril.

"Are you two going out?" Alicia eagerly whispered, leaning forward.

"Don't be ridiculous! Of course not!" Meril scoffed, forcing some eggs into her mouth.

"Then he likes you?" Angelina asked, becoming just as eager as Alicia despite herself.

"No! That was just...an accident. He didn't know what he was doing. Now if you'll excuse me," Meril said as she swung her legs over the side of the bench and stood, smoothing out her skirt, "I need to go get ready for class."

"Gonna meet up with Wood on the way?" Alicia teased, grinning broadly.

"Going to arrange to meet later?" Angelina added.

Meril rolled her eyes. "Angie--go find Lee, why don't you? Now, ta!"

Meril smiled at her fellow Gryffindors and then hurried out of the Great Hall, where she found a blonde a little taller than her and a tall, dark haired boy standing together, holding hands and talking.

Heather and Cedric.

Meril was suddenly reminded of the things she needed to tell Heather and added what happened with Oliver to her mental list. That made three things on that list. Three very _big_ things she needed to tell her.

"Hi," she weakly greeted, giving a short wave to the two Hufflepuffs.

The bright smile Heather wore while staring up at Cedric faded when she glanced over at Meril.

"Hello."

"Hi Meril," Cedric awkwardly greeted, smiling unsurely at her.

"Good to see you two again. Still together? That's nice. You um...make a nice couple."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Heather asked coolly, stepping away from Cedric's grasp.

"What's what supposed to mean?" Meril inquired in turn, confused and uncomfortable.

"'Still together?' What? Did you think we would have broken up just because the two of us," Heather pointed at Meril and then herself, "aren't speaking at the moment?"

"No! Of course not! I was just--"

"Or perhaps you were insinuating that I can't keep a boyfriend for more than a week?"

"_No_! I was merely trying to make--"

"Because I most certainly can! I was dating Hector for two months, and I've been dating Cedric since last year!"

"_I know Heather!_" Meril screamed exasperatedly. "I was merely making small talk. I wasn't insinuating anything!"

"Oh," Heather whispered, her face flushing from embarrassment. "Yes, of course. Well, Cedric and I are still together, yes...Happily so, right?"

"Right," Cedric replied, smiling brightly and wrapping his arm around Heather's waist.

"That's good. I'm happy for you."

"Oh! Th-thank you," Heather stuttered, startled by Meril's kindness.

"You're welcome. Now I should get going. Classes will be starting soon."

"Yes, of course. I'll see you around Meril!"

"Bye Meril!" Cedric said politely.

"Bye Cedric; I'll...talk to you later Heather."

"Yes. _Later_."

And the three parted ways. Meril trudged up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower by herself, feeling just a little happier. She knew that things weren't quite fixed between her and Heather--even things as trivial as what was going on between them could take time--but she knew that just a little bit of the disaster had been patched up.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

That day in Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid was teaching the Gryffindor and Slytherin fifth years about manticores, creatures with the body of a red lion, the head of a man with three rows of razor sharp teeth, the tail of a scorpion--or a dragon, rarely--and porcupine quills. And of course you couldn't forget the humongous wings they possessed.

Meril stood closest to the paddock while most everyone else stayed as far back as they could. Manticores were, after all, deadly.

"Now, Meril. I don' expect yeh to touch it, but would yeh step forward, please, and look in its eyes?" Hagrid requested.

Meril hesitantly moved towards the paddock, aware of how her body shook when she moved. She wasn't afraid of much, but the manticore....It didn't look very friendly.

Nonetheless, she stared into its blue eyes with her own, trying very hard not to blink.

"Don' be scared, Meril. He's been temporarily stupefied for the purposes of the lesson."

No wonder the thing wasn't moving at all.

"Now wha' can yeh tell me about 'him?" Hagrid asked, staring expectantly at Meril.

"It's big," Meril said bluntly, causing her classmates to chuckle nervously.

"Besides tha', Meril!" Hagrid chuckled. He ushered her closer.

Meril stepped forward with growing unease. How long would that..._thing_ stay frozen? She didn't know of anything that could break through stupefaction, but manticores were strong...maybe they could?"

"Well. It's got the body of a lion, but we all already know that. Its eyes are blue. Are they all like that?"

Hagrid nodded.

"The tail, which is spiked and poisonous, is that of a dragon, which means you got one of the rarer ones. Its wings are....big...and um....its teeth. There are more than there are in a human mouth.

"Um....it has the head of a man, which makes me think...are manticores related to sphinxes?"

"Very good Meril!" Hagrid boomed, smiling proudly. "Yes, manticores are closely related to Sphinxes! Now can anyone else tell me anything about the manticore?"

"It has porcupine spikes!" Hayley Dobson called out.

"Righ'! Anything else?"

No one else seemed to know anything about manticores because the class remained silent.

Hagrid heaved a sigh. "Didn' any of yeh notice that it doesn' 'ave a horn?"

"Oh yes, because it just needs one more thing, doesn't it?" a Slytherin boy somewhere in the back called out.

Hagrid ignored the boy and continued, "Some manticores have horns, though most don't. Yeh'll find that the ones with the horns are more dangerous, though they all are. Also, the wings tend to keep 'em back--slow 'em down yeh see--so they tend to use their tails--which are spiked and poisonous--a lot; they're also their most...er...dangerous weapon."

The bell rang loudly back at the castle. As the Care of Magical Creatures class hurried back towards the castle, Hagrid shouted, "We'll pick up here next lesson!"

Meril sighed. "So rude, aren't they?" she asked the giant of a man as the two walked back towards his cabin.

Hagrid said nothing in reply.

"Well, I best be going...."

"Wha'? Oh! Yes, of course!"

Meril was about to walk off, but Hagrid held her back with his words. "Would yeh like ter come down fer some tea later? You could meet Harry, Ron, and 'Ermione."

Meril's insides boiled and the happiness she had felt earlier when she had succeeded in talking to Heather dissipated. Harry? _Harry Potter_?

"Sorry, I can't," Meril truthfully replied, and then proceeded to explain about her plans for that night with Madam Pince and how she and the twins had landed detentions so early on.

"Yeh shoulda known better, Meril! Isn' that what yeh went to Boot Camp for?"

"Yeah. And I've mainly got a handle on it, but, sometimes, you know...And by the way; by Harry, Ron, and Hermione, you don't mean new pets, do you?" Meril asked, hopeful.

Hagrid laughed his big, booming laugh. "Pets? O' course not! No, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. Yeh know Ron, o'course?"

"Yes, yes I do. Well, sorry. Some other time then...."

"Yes, o' course. Some other time," Hagrid said gruffly, waving Meril off. "Yeh best be going. You got ter get ter class!"

"Right! Bye Hagrid!"

Meril gave the huge man a quick, one-armed hug before jogging back towards the castle, readjusting her bag as she went.

"And don' ferget; next time we have tea yeh have ter tell me about Boot Camp!"

"Will do, Hagrid!" Meril called back, and then she was gone.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"So! Who else is surprised Hagrid would bring a _manticore_?" Meril asked at lunch, settling down between the twins. The two Weasleys and Lee looked at her, shocked.

"We thought you knew Hagrid!" Lee exclaimed.

Meril sighed. "Oh I wouldn't have normally been surprised, but...you know about the whole Hippogriff thing, right?"

"Malfoy's a git," Fred and George simultaneously declared, dark looks possessing their normally light features.

"Yes, he is, but that isn't the point," Meril impatiently continued. "The point is that manticores are _dangerous_. After the trouble he's in about the Hippogriff, you'd think he wouldn't bring sometimes like that in..."

"Well, that must be why he bothered to stupefy it," George said calmly, shoveling some potato salad into his mouth.

Meril smiled and giggled slightly at this, piling large amount of food onto her plate, suddenly hungry again.

"You three looking forward to the library tonight?" Lee asked through a mouthful of chicken.

"We're only learning how to care for the books; how long could that take?" Meril asked, earning a snort from each of the three boys.

"I can't believe you've never had to do anything with Madam Pince for detention," Fred said, shaking his head.

"Lucky," George muttered.

"She is _the_ worst," Fred continued, staring Meril in the eye. "She watches you like this--allow me to demonstrate." At this Fred swooped in on Meril, his nose touching hers, his forehead leaning against hers. His hazel eyes were wide as he stared into Meril's blue ones.

Laughing, Meril moved her head, and Fred's swerved with it, his eyes unblinking. It was only when Meril leaned back, pulling her head away, that she noticed Fred's lips were pursed, and he looked quite like the sharp-faced librarian.

"You have obviously had too many detentions with her," she laughed, wiping hair from her eyes. "Unless," she gasped, "you've actually been in there to...to..._read_? Or worse--**study**!!!"

Fred laughed. "I admit it! I admit it! I have been in there even when I was not in detention."

"And you two?" Meril stared at Lee and George, who both put their hands up in surrender.

"I'm shocked!" Meril exclaimed, dropping her fork. "Terribly shocked...I mean, of course I'd go in there. I don't mind reading, and even I feel the need to get homework done, but you three..." Meril shook her head again before resuming eating.

"I feel like I don't know you guys anymore!" Meril exclaimed after a few minutes, accidentally hurdling her fork across the room, where it hit Draco Malfoy point blank in the forehead.

The twins, Lee, and Harry, Ron, and who Meril would only asssume was Hermione--who all sat nearby and saw--burst out laughing. Meril grinned sheepishly and gave a furious Malfoy a dainty little wave.

"Meril," George croaked, "you are great. That was," he stifled a laugh, "_priceless_." Still laughing, he slapped a hand on Meril shoulder and laid his head there as well, his tears of laughter wetting her robes.

"Yeah, that's enough now, Georgie," Meril said, pushing the red-head off of her shoulder.

"Right," said George, regaining his composure. He straightened up and began eating again, silent.

Meril didn't notice the red in his cheeks; she was too preoccupied with covering up the light pink tinge of her own caused by her imagination running away from her as it often did when such things occurred.

"Thanks," she finally muttered, quickly glancing in George's direction.

He glanced just as quickly back at her. "What for?" he asked, looking confused.

Meril's lips twitched. "For calling me great."

George's face turned bright read; it became clear to Meril that he had not realized he had let that slip out of his mouth and he was embarrassed that it had. Meril didn't understand what was so wrong with him saying that, though. He was just complimenting her abilities to make him laugh--even by accident--right?

"You're welcome," he grumbled, stuffing some food into his mouth. Meril watched him for a moment before turning back to her own plate, oblivious to the stares Lee was shooting at her.

"Hey...Mer..." one of the twins hissed, poking her arm. Meril turned to find Fred leaning close to her, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Could you..." he jerked his head towards the Slytherin table. "Maybe...'accidentally'...chuck your fork or spoon at Montague?"

Meril glanced over her shoulder and stared at the thick-necked Slytherin eating away at his table, laughing along with his friends, no doubt at some joke pertaining to the Gryffindors--that was the only kind they ever made.

"I think I could arrange it..." the brunette slowly replied. "Just for you." A broad grin spread across her face; Fred grinned in return before turning back to his food.

"I need one of you three to make my arms flail or something. It would look less conspicuous that way..."

"Because it won't be at all obvious it's being done on purpose, considering it's the second time in one lunch period," a new voice said. Meril jumped and spun quickly around.

As if it was planned, her spoon, filled with the pudding she had been eating, flew across the room a great distance before hitting Draco Malfoy once again. The pudding splattered in his slicked back, platinum blonde hair.

The entire Great Hall erupted with laughter as Malfoy shot up, glaring around the room. He opened his mouth to speak, but before Meril could hear what he had to say, a cold, drawling voice closer to her said, "Who threw that spoon?"

Meril, Lee, and the twins all exchanged looks before Meril raised her hand. "Guilty as charged. I was holding it when someone startled me; it flew across the room."

"Really?" Snape disbelievingly said. "And it just _happened_ to hit Mr. Malfoy for a second time this lunch period?"

Meril nodded vigorously. "Honestly. I didn't mean to hit him either time. If I was going to aim at a Slytherin, I would have aimed for Montague." As she spoke, she saw her three companions stifling their laughter by eating everything in sight with strong determination.

Snape raised a dark brow, his face otherwise as blank as ever. "And who startled you, exactly? Certainly not one of these--" he looked at Fred, George, and Lee in turn--"buffoons you are seated with?"

"No...no...it was..." the Lizlow twisted in her seat, looking for the source of that voice, but whoever it had been was gone. She frowned. "Hm. I have no idea." She shrugged.

"Five points from Gryffindor."

Meril's mouth dropped in shock. "F-five points?! That's absolutely _ridiculous_! It was a complete accident! I don't even **know** this bloody Malfoy kid--why would I want to hit him with my silverware?!"

"Make that ten," Snape drawled, thoroughly enjoying this, "for your cheek."

And with that, he swept away, his long black cloak billowing at his ankles. Meril stole a furious glance at the Slytherin table and grew even angrier when she saw the pale-skinned Malfoy, the pudding glob still on his head, smirking wickedly in her direction. She scowled at him before swirling back around to finish her lunch.

"I have no silverware," she said blankly.

The twins and Lee snorted before roaring with laughter, finally letting all that they had been holding in out. Meril cocked an eyebrow and, with a shrug, stole George's utensils and finished her meal.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

As Meril slowly exited her last class of the day, a balloon of dread swelling inside of her, Wood came storming up to her, looking absolutely furious.

"I can't believe it!" he screamed, throwing his arms in the air.

Meril's eyes widened. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose any house points for us! It was a total accident! There's no need to get so--"

"What are you talking about?" Oliver interrupted, his eyebrows tightly knit together as he stared at her, head cocked to the side.

"Isn't that what you're raving about?"

Slowly, the seventh year shook his head. "Why would I be so mad just because of that?"

Meril shrugged uncomfortably. "I...I dunno. I just couldn't think of anything else you'd be...mad at me about."

It didn't seem possible, but his eyebrows drew even closer together. "Who-who said I was mad at _you_?"

"No one! You just came up to me, screaming, so I assumed that--"

Oliver cut her off, "No, I'm mad at Mrs. Pince."

"Oh---_oooooh_! That makes more sense! I guess you couldn't get Fred and George out of it?"

"No," Oliver said sourly. "She nearly bit my head off for even suggesting it. Swept me right out of the library, lecturing me the entire time."

"Oh, I'm sure that was fun."

"Loads."

"So...what are you going to do about it?"

Oliver shrugged, the sour expression still on his face. "I'm not sure. I can't very well practice while missing my two beaters, but it will be rather difficult to cancel, too. It's so hard to get hold of the pitch..."

Meril thought for a moment before coming up with an idea. "You could just practice with the Chasers and the seeker today, get that down while...I dunno, _pretending_to have bludgers flying about, and then tomorrow in the morning I could go out and practice with Fred and George. I could be the chaser."

Oliver considered this for a moment before nodding. "Alright. Though maybe you could get someone else to be a Chaser with you...?"

Meril nodded. "I'll try."

"Good! Thanks!"

"Not a problem! I'm always happy to help, especially when it includes getting on the pitch!"

Oliver grinned. "I know how that is!"

"Oh, I know you do!" laughed Meril. "Your whole life is Quidditch."

Oliver shrugged, not denying it. "Shall we go off to dinner then?"

"Yes!" Meril exclaimed, clutching her stomach. "I need to get some more food in my system before I head off to the library." Her stomach growled as if to prove her point; she pressed her hand against it more, hoping to silence it.

"Well, come on then!" Oliver exclaimed, a grin breaking out across his pleasant face. Her stomach gave an unfamiliar lurch having nothing to do with her hunger when he grabbed her arm and started dragging her along after him. She didn't like this feeling, especially when associated with him. Her stomach never felt so unsettled around _anyone_. Not anymore. That feeling had stopped coming when she was around _them._ Instead her heart just sped up, almost bursting through her chest when she felt their touch on her skin. But the butterflies, the uncomfortable lurching, had altogether stopped, and she was quite unprepared for their sudden return. Even more so, she was confused by it.

_Oliver_?

She shook her head slowly. No. It had just been a coincidence that her stomach gave such a terrible lurch when he touched her. She _had_ after all just been thinking of her pre-detention with Madam Pince. She was just....thinking about that.

"You alright?" Oliver asked. He furrowed his eyebrows again, looking back at her. "You look a little pale."

"Yes, I'm fine," Meril weakly replied. Her stomach tightened uncomfortably. Never before had words sounded so beautiful to her ears. She actually found pleasure in listening to Wood speak. He had such a nice, thick accent.... "Just hungry," she quickly added. She pulled her arm from his grip and immediately felt better. Her stomach stopped lurching so uncomfortably and she didn't swoon when he talked. She was relieved. It was just some odd happening. It wasn't any new feelings developing for her friend, but a simple realization that he _was_ an attractive fellow.

She pushed through the tall doors into the Great Hall. Oliver was right at her heels as she swept along the aisle to a bunch of available seats. He sat down right beside her, and neither spoke to the other as they ate their supper. Fred, George, and Lee entered, laughing wildly as they bent over that stupid piece of parchment. Meril eyed it enviously for a moment before returning to her meal.

_There's no point in getting jealous or angry_, she reminded herself once again. _You'll find out soon enough. Besides, you're going to be spending what could be hours with them, and you want that to be as pleasant as possible_. She took a deep, calming breath, and turned to the three, smiling.

"Are you two looking forward to our evening with Madam Pince?" she asked, eyebrows jiggling. "It should be a real blast, huh? There should be drinking and dancing...hm, I wonder if she'll let us dance around on the tables?" Her eyes lit up. "Maybe even on the **bookshelves**! How fun would _that_ be, huh?"

Lee laughed appreciatively as he dished some food onto his plate. The twins grinned as well, jiggling their eyebrows at their friend in return.

"Save me the first dance?" George laughed.

"Sure!" Meril agreed. "You'll have to get a few fire whiskeys into me first!"

"We haven't been able to get a hold on any yet; how about some butterbeers instead?" Fred inquired.

Meril sighed. "I suppose that will just have to do."

"I hear Madam Rosmerta's Oak-matured meade is also quite good," Wood interjected.

"We'll keep that in mind! Sadly, we don't have any on hand at the moment!" George frowned.

"I could go get some," Lee eagerly offered.

"Some other time, Lee," Meril laughed, stuffing some kidney pie into her mouth. She glanced down at her watch. "Five more minutes to eat. Then we should go."

The three quickly stuffed as much food as they could into their systems before getting up. Meril started to run out of the hall, but both of her arms were grabbed by the twins.

"Trust us," they said simultaneously, "there's no hurry."

"Alright." The brunette turned and waved good-bye to Lee and Oliver.

"Have fun at practice, Ollie!" she exclaimed.

"Will do," he grinned. He turned to the twins and glared before turning back to his plate to finish.

"W-was that a _glare_?!" George asked, aghast.

"I think it was," Fred agreed, nodding sagely.

"It's not _our_ fault!"

Fred shrugged; Meril giggled.

"You guys know how serious he is about Quidditch."

"But it's still not our fault."

Meril Lizlow shrugged. Then, without another word, she squeezed in between the two, wrapping her arms around their waists.

"That's alright. You guy's will make it up to him."

"M-make it up to him?" they gasped, eyes bulging.

"We didn't do anything!" Fred insisted as George sighed, "How?"

"Tomorrow morning, the three of us are going to go out to the pitch to practice."

"How early?" the two asked suspiciously, eyes narrowed.

"As soon as I get up!"

The twins exchanged looks and groaned.

"Fine. Let us get a decent breakfast first, at least," George groaned, running a hand through his shaggy ginger hair.

Meril stared at him as if he was slow. "_Duh!_! You really think I would go out without eating something first?"

"No; I just am not sure if you'd let _us_ eat anything."

Meril swatted his arm and was about to make a retort, but at that exact moment, an irritated looking Madam Pince swept them inside the library.

"You're late."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril lay awake, staring at the ceiling, for a few moments, thinking over the pervious night's events. Fred and George were right--detention with Madam Pince was _horrible_. That hadn't even been the actual detention--just a little "warm up session." She grimaced to think what the actual thing would be like.

The brunette groaned and rolled out of bed, her scarlet blankets--her cocoon--acting as padding as she dropped to the hard floor.

"Whawuztha'?" Hayley Dobson slurred, still half-asleep, sitting up. She looked around, her long hair one big knot.

"Just Meril--_again_," Alicia sighed, having also been woken by the 'thump' of Meril's body slamming against the floor.

"Go back to sleep, Hayley," Angelina ordered.

As usual, Hayley dropped back down and, not a second later, her snores were heard reverberating off the walls, her hair strewn across her face. Meril struggled with herself, attempting to untangle her body from the blankets she had dragged off of the bed with her.

"No, guys--don't worry about me. I'm fine!" she grumbled, finally managing to extract her entire self from her cocoon. "No need to help me."

"The way I see it," Alicia said slowly, "you woke us up--we at least have the right to watch you struggle, if not the right to make things harder for you. Why should we help?"

"Because you're my friends and you love me?" Meril said hopefully. She stared down at her two friends who both still lay in their beds, their own blankets perfectly in place around them while Meril's lay in a giant heap on the floor. They both looked worn out, tired. Meril cocked a brow.

"What's up with you two?"

"Oliver is relentless," Angelina groaned. "He kept us out **so** late last night."

"Really? Fred and George said you guys weren't there anymore when we got out of the library..." Meril said thoughtfully.

The two Chasers exchanged funny looks. "They never even came to check!"

"Are you sure...? They told me to go meet up with Lee and they'd catch me after practice. But a few minutes later, they came back saying that you hadn't been there anymore."

"Those dirty little---" Angelina growled; Meril cut her off, blocking out what exactly the twins were.

"Don't worry, I'll work them extra hard for you two!"

"....How?" the two asked simultaneously.

"I offered to go out and practice with them, since they had to miss. Gives me a chance out on the pitch, but also keeps them up to scratch."

"With only three of you? Doesn't give you much--"

"I'll try to round someone else up really quick to help."

"Well, good luck with that. I don't know who else will be up at this ungodly hour," Alicia said, rubbing her eyes.

"I'll manage to find someone," the Lizlow said optimistically. With that, she left her two friends be and proceeded to get dressed. To please the twins, she made sure to pull out a famous T-shirt. This one was a frosty blue tie-dye and said "_Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy_" in an icy white color. She quickly changed into it and a pair of denim shorts, seeing as it was still fairly hot outside, and pulled her thick hair into a messy ponytail. She searched through her belongings for a moment, found her makeup, and quickly applied it before running out of the dorm, a thin, white, zip-up hoodie draped over her shoulder and sneakers half-on her otherwise bare feet.

The Common Room was completely barren, as she had expected. Without even hesitating, she sprinted up the spiral staircase into the fifth-year-boys' circular dormitory. Two red heads immediately caught her eye, lying sprawled out, completely asleep, in their two beds. Besides one was the black head of Lee, his dreadlocks spilling over his peaceful face.

"Wake up!" Meril ordered, not even bothering to keep her voice down for the sake of the others in the dormitory. Not that it mattered; absolutely no one stirred. Sighing obnoxiously, the stick-thin girl leapt onto the nearest Weasley's bed, hoping that she could make whichever twin it was simply by the sheer force she put into the jump. Much to her pleasure, her wish was granted. The twin gave a startled jerk, nearly sending Meril flying to the floor for the second time that morning. However, the blue-eyed girl managed to hold onto the bed as Fred sat up, blinking.

"M-Meril? What are you doing here?"

Meril repositioned herself so that she sat on the edge of the bed, instead of on top of him. "I told you that I would be coming to get you up."

Fred contorted his face in thought. "Did you really?" he disbelievingly inquired; Meril nodded.

"Oh. What for?"

"You know perfectly well what for," she said briskly, brushing her wavy side-bangs out of her eyes impatiently. Fred stared at her for a moment, thoughtful, before a look of realization dawned on his freckled face.

"Quidditch?"

"Righto!" Meril exclaimed. She carefully pulled her legs onto the bed, balanced on the balls of her feet, and then leapt across the gap between beds onto George's sleeping figure. The second Weasley did nothing more than twitch in his sleep, quite unlike his brother's reaction. Meril frowned thoughtfully, her eyebrows coming together as well. She remained sprawled out on top of the sleeping Weasley, thinking, for a few moments before deciding on what to do.

Without any care as to whether she disturbed him or kicked anything off of his bedside table or chest, Meril moved around until she was in the right position. Then she crawled up close to the red head's exposed ear and whispered in an anxious sort of way, "I'm sorry George, I'm just not inter--"

It was a good thing that George jumped awake at the sound of these words, because Meril didn't know what the rest of them were. That was all the boggart-Meril had had time to say before George had screamed '_Riddikulous_' at it.

Meril smiled brightly at George, who saw her and immediately let out a shocked sort of scream. "Y-you!" he stuttered, trying to catch his breathe. "W-what are you _doing_ in here?! And why, for Merlin's sake, are you on top of me?!"

The last sentence seemed to embarrass him a bit for his voice dropped down to a low hiss, rather than the booming voice he had been using before. Meril simply smiled sweetly at him with a glint in her eyes.

After a few more minutes, Meril realized that she was still lying on top of her friend and quickly jumped off. "We're going to Quidditch practice," she informed him, averting her eyes. "Fred over here"--she jerked her thumb in his direction--"decided that he forgot so, just to make sure _you_ didn't, I thought I'd tell you."

"Alright," George replied slowly. "I remembered though."

"Yeah, George wouldn't forget something like having Quidditch with Meril, now _would_ he?" Lee yawned, adding his voice to the conversation. George blushed scarlet, but Meril didn't notice because she was looking over at Lee. He had woken up some time during the fifteen minutes Meril had been up there and remained quite silent, watching them through his groggy brown eyes. His dreadlocks fell across his sleepy face and he didn't bother to push them aside as he watched the scene, a smirk playing on his thick lips. Meril cocked her eyebrow curiously at him, but he either didn't see her or he was ignoring it.

Then, without warning, he spoke again. His gaze had moved towards Fred, so Meril's did as well. "And Fred was probably only pretending to forget. Didn't want to seem too...eager for it."

Before she could see the second twin's reaction, Meril looked back at Lee, now truly baffled. "What on earth are you talking about, Dreadlocks?"

Lee shook his head. "Nothing; they know and that's all that matters."

But when Meril looked over at the twins, they appeared not to have any more of an idea than Meril did. Each bore puzzled looks as they stared at Lee Jordan; Meril joined them.

Lee exhaled heavily before shaking his head again. "Never mind; I'm just teasing them." His face broke out into the wide grin Meril knew so well; she smiled in return.

"Do you want to join us?" she offered.

"I might come by and watch..." he hesitated before adding, "Unless Angelina will be there?" He looked hopeful, his eyebrows raised into his hair.

Meril shook her head. "I didn't ask," she said apologetically. "She just seemed so wiped out from yesterday. Sorry."

"No problem," Dreadlocks said, waving his hand dismissively. "I'll probably catch up with you guys while you're out there."

"Okay, cool!" Meril beamed. "I'm going to go see if anyone wants to join me as a Chaser; you two,"--she stared and pointed at the twins--"get changed. I'll meet you in the Great Hall for a quick breakfast, alright? Good."

Without waiting for a response, she hurried down the spiral staircase, ignoring her friends' other roommates, one of whom had woken and had whistled appreciatively as Meril had passed by his bed.

Down in the Common Room, there was a fire going but no one there to really enjoy it. Meril moved towards the couch to lay down for a moment but discovered someone was already there; Katie Bell, slouched down so far that her head didn't go over the top of the couch. She was poring over a book and sucking on the tip of a quill, parchment at her side.

"Hello!" Meril said cheerily after staring for a moment at the fourth year, who, it seemed, had not noticed her presence. Katie looked up, stared at Meril through glazed eyes, and then blinked rapidly.

"Oh! Hello Meril! Sorry!" she said quickly, blushing. "I didn't notice you there!"

"That's okay. So...what are you doing?"

Katie glanced down at her book and shrugged. "Just some reading for History of Magic. I have an essay due I've been putting off...It's just so hard to concentrate in that class!"

"I know what you mean," Meril said, suppressing a yawn. She got bored simply thinking about Professor Binn's and his droning voice.

"You know what I think..." she began after a moment of silence. Katie, who had just been looking down at her book most reluctantly, stared back at Meril, hope of been saved on her face. "I think you would concentrate better after being outside for a bit."

Katie nodded. "I suppose that make sense." She glanced out the window, biting her lip. "And it looks _so_ nice out!"

"Then come on!" Meril exclaimed. "Fred, George, and I were going to go down to the pitch to practice some Quidditch. Would you like to join us?"

The fourteen-year-old girl didn't even hesitate. "I'd love to!" she exclaimed; Meril was a little surprised by her eagerness. The other two Gryffindor Chasers, Angelina and Alicia, had seemed very annoyed at the thoughts of Quidditch after having endured a brutal practice the night before. Katie, on the other hand, looked eager to play some more.

"G-great!" Meril stuttered after a moment, still a bit shocked. "Well, how about you come down to have some breakfast with me? Fred and George are just changing--I wonder what's taking them so long--and then we're going..."

"Alright!"

Katie Bell abandoned her books, quill, and parchment and followed Meril out through the portrait hole and all the way down to the Great Hall for an early breakfast. Neither spoke to the other until they had reached the long Gryffindor house table. There were people seated sparsely among the many long benches; all of them looked tired; most of them were younger than Meril and Katie, not having learned to sleep in yet.

"So why are you up so early today?" Katie asked conversationally, helping herself to a bit of toast.

"I'm often up early," Meril replied vaguely as she piled sausage and eggs onto her plate. "I guess I'm like the little first years...just haven't learned what it means to 'sleep in' yet," she added with a smile; Katie chuckled. "What about you?"

Katie shrugged. "Every now and then I wake up early. Usually I'll just stay in my dorm and read, but today..." She shrugged again and did not finish her sentence, merely continued to eat.

Fred and George soon joined the two, choosing to sit across from them rather than beside them. Lee joined them just as the four were finishing up. "I guess I'll see you later then!" he said as the other four got to their feet.

"I suppose you will," Meril replied, grinning at him. "That is to say if you don't get caught up in chasing Angelina around..._again_."

Lee blushed crimson at this and Katie Bell giggled. He had made comments at Quidditch matches before about how attractive he found her and how she wouldn't go out with him, but not many knew how he actually would follow her around when he got the chance. Meril wasn't even sure why he did it anymore. It was hard to tell if he really liked Angelina or if he just did it for the "thrill of the chase."

"Right well....see you!" Meril exclaimed. She waved good-bye to Dreadlocks and headed off with the other three to the Quidditch pitch.

"Right...bye!" Lee called after her. He added under his breath, "Now to go find Jennifer and Heather...."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

There was nothing quite like flying that made Meril feel so at ease. The wind run through her messy brown hair and her loose t-shirt billowed about her. She felt absolutely free.

"Oi! Lizlow! Heads up!"

Meril's head whipped to the side and she saw a bludger zooming towards her.

"Thanks Weasley!" Meril shouted back after easily dodging the Bludger sent by George. She grinned at Fred, who was on her team in the two-on-two match. He winked in return then zoomed off. Meril smiled after him before shaking her head.

"Get your head in the game, Lizlow," she muttered to herself, flicking her side-bangs out of her face. She leaned forward so that she was almost laying across the broom and sped forward toward an unsuspecting Katie Bell, who was heading towards the goal posts with the red quaffle.

The Lizlow girl dove down underneath her opponent and then came straight up before her, catching the quaffle before it could get through the goal post. Meril grinned cheekily at the fourth-year before zooming off in the opposite direction.

She was actually quite surprised that she had pulled that off. Chaser had never been her strong suit, which was why she was rather pleased with herself for having pulled that little trick of hers off so easily. It was also why she wasn't surprised when Katie Bell came to her side, just before Meril could throw the ball, and knocked it out of her hands. Before the blue-eyed girl could react, Katie dove after and caught the bright red ball.

"Good try, Lizlow!" Fred called to her, slamming a Bludger towards George with his bat. Meril snickered as the heavy ball made its way to George's head. It was as if he had eyes in the back of his head because he whipped it with his bat just centimeter's before it made contact with his skull, not even _glancing_ at it.

Meril was in awe.

"Good one!" she couldn't help calling out. This outburst earned her a reprimanding look from Fred.

"No complimenting the enemy!" he ordered, just barely managing not to smile.

"Yes, sir!" Meril replied, saluting him. She, unlike her teammate, couldn't hold back her grin. He winked at her again and then got back into the game, pelting a bludger at Katie."I'm going to pretend to be Seeker now, alright?" Meril shouted at her companions. They all nodded and waved dismissively. Meril shrugged, not having expected any other response, and flew upward into the sky.

She missed playing Quidditch. It always gave her a joy nothing else could. And being Seeker was..._exciting_. Despite what she always said, she kind of liked the attention she got from it. It was quite different from the attention she got now. She liked being acknowledged for something real, like talents, not her so-called "good-looks." That would get her nowhere and she hated that people practically worshipped her because of her genes! It was annoying now when people stared at her, but her feelings had been quite different before.

Quidditch and fighting had been what made her known, as well as Dungbombs and her funky t-shirts. People had been awed by her spunk; by her toughness; by her raw talent on the pitch. They had respected her, but now all they didn't respect her--they just thought she was "pretty."

Meril sighed and pulled into a dive, imagining that she saw the golden glint of the passing Snitch. She leaned forward, pushing her broom harder and harder. She stretched out her hand and--

"HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL!!!!" she screamed, pulling back her throbbing hand. A bludger had whizzed past and slammed into her hand, more than likely breaking it. She held it close to her chest, whimpering. Her eyes were stinging with oncoming tears. She groaned, gripping the broom even more tightly with her other hand.

"M-Meril! I am **so sorry**!" George shouted across the field, his hazel eyes bulging. He looked truly apologetic. Meril winced as she forced a smile and dove to the ground.

As soon as her feet grazed the grass, she hopped off of her broom and headed off the field. Katie, Fred, and George touched off around her, hurrying after her.

"Meril! _Meril!_ Are you okay?!" George asked, running up to her side. Meril ducked her head, refusing to let him or anyone else see the tears threatening to spill out of her dazzling eyes.

"Meril?" he whispered. He touched her face gently with one hand an held her injured arm with the other. "Blimey...I'm sorry, mate. Let me take you to the Hospital Wing."

"No," Meril croaked. She glanced over her shoulder. "Time, Fred?"

He stared at his wrist watch for a moment before replying..."Yikes! It's already twelve o'clock! How long were we playing?"

"Without breaks? Four hours," Meril tonelessly replied. "Come on, I'm starved. Let's go have lunch."

"Not before we get you to the Hospital Wing!" George interjected, but Meril ignored him.

"I hope they have some chicken. I'm craving roasted garlic and herbs chicken..."

"I'm sure they will. We'll bring some up to you in the Hospital Wing," Fred promised, coming up on her other side. Meril jerked away from them and walked alongside Katie.

"I'm fine. I don't need to go to the bloody Hospital Wing!"

"Oh, I do hope it's not bloody..." Fred joked earning glares all around.

"Jeez, tough crowd," he muttered; George cracked a weak smile.

"Are you sure you're okay? That bludger hit you pretty hard," Katie Bell whispered, leaning close to the slightly-older girl. Meril nodded stiffly in reply, still doing all that she could to bite back the tears. In all honesty, her hand was throbbing. She felt as if someone had taken each individual bone in her hand and shattered them, then lit the entire collection on fire. Her skin was burning, her muscles ached, and bending her fingers and her wrist hurt so much that she simply _couldn't do it._

She bit down hard on her lower lip until she could taste the blood on her tongue. The pain was nothing compared to her hand, though, and she found it much preferable. She continued to bite down hard on her lip, distracting herself from her hand, until they reached the Great Hall. There she, Fred, and George separated from Katie Bell, who went to find her friend Leanne.

"Detention starts at two o'clock," Meril muttered to the twins. With that, she walked around the table and found herself a seat away from anyone who would care what was wrong. Then, and only then, she let silent tears stream down her face. She blotted at them with a napkin and then wiped off her bloody lips.

Still crying silently at the searing pain in her hand, she forced herself to eat one-handed

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril walked into the library to find Fred and George already there talking to Madam Pince.

"--so, you see," George was saying, "she probably won't be able to make it."

Madam Pince's hawk-like face was staring hard at the twins, but as soon as she heard the light footsteps of Meril, her gaze snapped upwards.

"Seems her problem was sorted out already," she said sharply. Fred and George whirled around, looking surprised.

"We thought you went to the Hospital Wing!"

Meril hesitated before responding, "I did! Madam Pomfrey fixed me right up! It wasn't nearly as bad as you guys thought! The bludger barely even _grazed_ me!"

The twins both stared suspiciously at her, but Meril forced her face not to move; not to give away any signs of lying. Satisfied, they nodded.

Madam Pince set them to work at once. She already had big crates of worn boxes set out for them to spruce up. She had each of them remove a stack with care and move to separate stations to work on them. Meril bit her lip as she carried her stack, forced to use her injured hand so as not to raise suspicions from the twins--whom she knew were watching her--but also to keep Madam Pince from screaming her head off at Meril for mistreating the "sacred books."

Accidentally, Meril dropped the books on the table with a 'thunk.' This earned her a sharp, withering glare from the hawk-faced librarian. She smiled sheepishly and set to work.

As she did this, she felt quite like a muggle. Madam Pince said they weren't to use magic. She claimed that taking care of the books the Muggle way would teach them to "respect books more."

Meril snorted, taping the new, fixed cover (they were allowed to use magic ONLY to fix torn covers, but not to fix the binding)with some Spellotape she had been provided with. This didn't teach respect; it only made Meril want to throw the newly fixed books at the librarians head.

The blue-eyed girl glanced over at Fred and George, who seemed befuddled by the process. Clearly, they had been paying as much attention the day before as Meril had been. However, Meril already knew how to do most Muggle ways, what with being forced to live like one over the summer and all. Though she would much rather not how to do it at all.

She finished rebinding her stack and then moved on to scrubbing them. Making sure Madam Pince wasn't watching, she charmed the paper of the books so that they wouldn't tear or get soggy.

"Merlins beard this is annoying!" she heard Fred complaining from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the red-head was also attempting to clean the edges of a book. Carefully, she crept over to him and whispered, pointing her wand at the book, "_Impearmeabliados_."

She did the same to the rest of his books and then to George's as well.

"Thanks," the twins muttered. The three exchanged small smiles and then set back to work. Meril's usable hand grew cramped and, without thinking, she switched. Immediately, it began to sear worse than before; her eyes stung and she recoiled.

"OW!" she screeched, jumping back. All eyes were suddenly upon her. Fred's and George's both had knowing looks, but Madam Pince merely looked annoyed.

"_No talking; no noises!_" she screeched, her beady eyes not leaving Meril's face. The brunette returned the gaze readily, her blue eyes fierce and wet as she glared at the librarian.

"Return to your work," the older woman ordered at last, her voice as pinched as ever. For a minute, Meril was very tempted to point-blank refuse, but then she remembered Boot Camp and what she was trained not to do. It seemed very against her nature, but she swallowed the retorts that were bubbling within her, desperate to escape and make themselves known.

"Of course," she said, her voice strained. Stiffly, she spun on her heels and returned to her station.

Maybe it was because of Meril's obvious unwillingness to do the actual work, or maybe it was because Madam Pince simply didn't like her, but she got on her case about everything, and it took all that Meril had not to make a smart remark back to her. She could see the twins exchanging surprised looks out of the corner of her eye whenever she successfully managed to pull this off. Obviously, they didn't think she had it in her, even after having endured Wizard Boot Camp.

Meril was very proud of herself for doing this, despite the one voice in the back of her head telling her that this wasn't her. The old--the _real_-- Meril Lizlow would say **something**. But the present Meril Lizlow was tired of fights and ashamed thinking of how many she had been in, although she had won most of them. She understood that there were some people she would **not** be able to resist making retorts or taunts to, Amy Smith being one of them, but Madam Pince was just a harmless--albeit cranky--old librarian. She meant no harm...

"**_WHAT DID YOU DO TO THAT BOOK?!?!_**"

Meril's head popped up, her eyes wide. On the book she had been repairing were scratches and ink blotches--neither of which had been there before she began the process, and Madam Pince seemed to know that.

"**_YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE FIXING THE BOOKS, NOT DESTORYING THEM FURTHER, CHILD!_**" Madam Pince continued to shriek, her beady eyes narrowed as she stared the young teen down. Her thin arms were being flailed about by the crazy witch.

"They aren't destroyed, Madam Pince. See?" Meril lifted her wand and removed the ink and then also the scratches. However, this did not seem to calm the librarian at all.

"You-are-_not_-supposed-to-use-**MAGIC**!" she hissed, eyes now bulging.

"Well how else was I supposed to get rid of the scratches?" Meril asked bitterly.

"They shouldn't have been their in the first place!!!!"

"Well, they were. It was an accident; I'm sorry."

"So you admit you _did_ do it!"

"...I never denied it."

Madam Pince's fuse was smaller than Meril could ever have imagined. In fact, it was so incredibly miniscule that you would need a very powerful microscope to find it. The mad--in every sense of the word--witch was positively steaming by this point. "Out!" she ordered.

"But I'm serving my detention..."

"You have done quite enough! Now get _out_!" Instead of simply chasing Meril out of her domain, Madam Pince actually _dragged_ her out--by her injured left hand. The old woman had a surprisingly bone-crushing grip that caused the young brunette to cry out in pain. She felt as if the bones were shattering all over, now into pieces more miniscule than the librarian's fuse.

Maybe it was the pain that drove Meril to do it, or it could also have been her anger, but she completely lashed out. She tore from the woman's grip and whipped out her wand.

"_Don't **touch** me_," she hissed threateningly, her wand pointed at the woman. The tears were there again, and her throat was closing up. Why did it have to hurt so flipping _much_? She was biting her lip, holding back the tears and whimpers. Her arm was shaking; Madam Pince looked absolutely livid as she stared down at the wand.

"Get out of my library _now_," she said evenly. "And don't let me ever see you in here again."

"Not a problem," Meril snarled. She pocketed her wand and sprinted out of the library.

* * *

**a/n** okay, so this is where it starts to get MUCH better I think. That is mostly because it is when I started to write again after MONTHS and I was much better. I hope you agree :]


	15. The Swan

**Chapter Fourteen—**  
The Swan

* * *

The hallway was pretty barren, seeing as it was so nice outside, especially considering it was late September. The rest of the school were all probably out there doing homework or simply relaxing. This made moving through the corridors much easier for Meril, not that it mattered. Her pain was slowing her down and she had an _awful_ sense of direction. Where was the Hospital Wing? She halted, her hand throbbing, and looked around. What she needed was a map of the school. That way she could get around on her own, something she could _never_ do. That was one of many reasons she always clung to people who **did** know their way around--like the twins. Those boys knew every nook and cranny of Hogwarts it seemed. Before the three had really become friends, the Weasleys would often find Meril lost in the middle of some corridor on the way to class and would help her out. The three already got on well enough, but these constant run-ins did nothing but improve their relationship until, finally, they were friends--the best of--and completely inseparable.

"But they're in detention now. Crap." She sighed and pressed herself against a wall. The pressure exerted on her hand made her cry out in pain. She jumped back, cradling her hand close to her chest and whimpering.

"Crap. Crap. _Crap_," she croaked, leaning against the wall and sliding down. Her tears were hot and plentiful, streaming down her thin face. She sniffled and wiped them with her uninjured arm. "No. Not here, not now," she muttered. Her head found its way to the crevice between her bony knees. She left it there and squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to trap the tears, but they found a way out anyway.

The salty tears burned her delicate skin as well as her eyes. She hastily wiped them away with the corner of her sleeve and sat there, alone in her misery.

_I'm so....weak_ a hollow voice--**her** hollow voice--said.

"Yes I am," Meril agreed out loud. "In every possible sense of the word."

"What word?" one voice wondered.

"Surely 'wonderful,' right Fred?"

"That's what I would have guessed."

Meril looked up, bleary eyed, and forced a crooked smile. "You guys..." she began; Fred and George smiled, anticipating she was about to say something nice. However, they were quite wrong. "You guys are supposed to be in detention."

Their faces fell.

"Yes, well..." George looked away sheepishly.

"We bailed," Fred finished; he grinned openly, clearly proud of himself.

"Why?" the female asked miserably.

"We wanted to check on you," Fred said as if this was the most obvious thing in the world, which, of course, it wasn't. Not for Meril anyway.

"Madam Pince was being a real pain in the--" George began, his face taking on an uncharacteristically ugly expression.

"Yes, she was, but I'm fine. You should have stayed. You'll get in trouble."

"Not as much trouble as you," Fred said, every trace of his usual levity gone.

"That's why we ditched; we were worried about you. Not that we care about getting in trouble anyway." George exchanged a quick grin with his twin before turning back to his teary friend. Every trace of a smile was gone and he stared down at her looking concerned.

Fred's gaze also moved towards the brunette and together they stared thoughtfully at Meril's tear-stained, angry face. Their expressions carried so much concern it made Meril's insides twist uncomfortably. She really wasn't used to seeing looks like that on the Weasley twins.

"You didn't really go to the Hospital Wing, did you?" Fred asked softly. He knelt down in front of her and gently touched her thin arms with his strong hands.

Meril slowly shook her head, compelled suddenly to be honest about it. It was those eyes...they did something magical to her.

"I'm so sorry I hurt you," George croaked. He looked not only concerned about his friend, but also incredibly angry with himself for having caused her pain. His hazel eyes were swimming as he leaned closer to her, placing his mouth to her ear. "I promise I'll never do it again."

Meril felt goose bumps rise all over her at his closeness and the sincerity of his words. She opened and closed her mouth several times before finally deciding upon, "Okay."

"Let's go," Fred commanded. He gently tugged her to her feet; George grabbed her by her waist and picked her up the rest of the way. Wordlessly, they led her to the Hospital Wing. Meril felt very foolish for not having gone earlier, though a part of her was happy with her decision. For all she knew, if she had gone before, she wouldn't have ended up between the twins, both of them holding her protectively as they moved quickly through the empty corridors.

Meril stared down at her feet as they moved, as if on their own accord, onward. She was vaguely unaware of the looks she kept receiving from the twins, who both were continually staring at her. Fred bit his lip, expressing both his worries for Meril, who looked quite unlike herself now, pale and downtrodden, but also showing his attempts at biting back a joke. George, on the other hand, still wore his angry expression and only that. He so wanted to say something--a joke that would make her laugh and maybe, just for a moment, forget the throbbing pain in her hand, which, when he looked closely, was...sort of crooked. He grimaced when he saw where bones, shattered, were bent out of shape, poking her muscle so that there were lumps in her hand. He was sick with himself, but also a little annoyed at her, which made him even angrier. He _shouldn't_ be mad at her--she was the victim--but if she wasn't so bloody proud than her hand wouldn't be as bad as it was. She would have saved herself a lot of pain, and Fred and himself a whole lot of worry.

Meril lifted her head but didn't look at either Weasley. "I'm sorry I was so stupid," she muttered. Her eyes were still stinging with tears and her throat was sore. She felt that if she looked either twin in the eyes, or simply _looked_ at them, she would start sobbing again. She didn't understand why; she just knew she would. Maybe because she hated the fact that she made them worry about her, or maybe her hormones were simply unbalanced, but she just knew she would cry and therefore refused to look at either.

"Well, you can't help that, Mer. You were born that way," Fred said quite seriously. Despite herself, Meril felt a snort erupt in her and the corners of her mouth twitched, as did George's.

"I mean stupider than usual, Fred," Meril sighed jokingly.

"Well I really don't know how you managed that, but apology accepted."

A chortle escaped George but he quickly covered it up as a cough. Meril smiled appreciatively at his joke but not a sound came from her.

"I...I should have listened to you guys," she muttered, struggling with her words. It wasn't often that she would admit she was wrong; one of those pride things.

Both of the twins stopped in their tracks, eyes wide. "Did--did she just..." Fred stuttered, staring at his brother and pointing at his friend.

"I think she did," George weakly replied, just as astounded by this.

"I never thought I'd see the day..."

"Are we dreaming?"

"I dunno; is it possible for two people to have the same dream?"

"Oh, Ive heard it's quite common in twins."

"**_Really_**?"

"Oh yes." George nodded sagely.

"So the time I had a dream I was running around the Great Hall in only my socks--"

George held his hand up silencing him. "That was _all_ yours."

"What about when I--"

Again, Fred was cut off. "How about we just consult our Dream Diaries to see which dreams we've shared?" George suggested, smirking; Fred snickered.

Meril looked back and forth between the two and managed a grin. "As amusing as this is guys...the hand?"

"Right!" George exclaimed, his attention moving very quickly back towards his injured friend.

"Sorry," the other twin muttered.

"It's quite alright. That was a very..._interesting_ conversation." She stared pointedly at Fred, who winked at her.

"Remind me to ask more about that dream later, though," Meril requested, grinning, as they walked on.

"Sure, sure," Fred replied noncommittally.

A short silence ensued, only to be broken when they reached the Hospital Wing. It was relatively empty. Meril spotted a single occupied bed where a first year lay, her eyes closed. She looked feverish; there were sweat beads on her forehead and her mouth was twitching. Even in her sleep she couldn't be still.

"Oh, dear, what is it this time?" Madam Pomfrey clucked when she spotted the three standing stiffly by the doorway. She reached down and grabbed Meril's left hand; she winced but did not lash out as she had with the librarian.

"Dear, dear, what happened here?"

Meril glanced to her left, where Fred stood, awkwardly staring at George. Meril slowly turned her head so that she saw George on her right. He looked extremely guilty; so guilty, in fact, that Meril herself felt guilty. She wanted to reach out and hug him, squeeze him, but felt that it would be inappropriate.

"Well," he began, clearing his throat several times as he considered his wording. "We were playing Quidditch a few hours ago--"

"A few hours ago?!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, outraged. Her bulging eyes rested upon Meril. "My dear, why didn't you come earlier?!"

"I was...I had to go to detention," Meril squeaked.

"Still, that is no reason to--"

"Excuse me, Madam Pomfrey, but my dear brother has not yet finished his tale," Fred interrupted, his tone hysterically polite.

"Yes, yes, of course. Continue, Mr. Weasley."

George suppressed his smile and cleared his throat again. "Err...right. So we were playing Quidditch a few hours ago, and Meril was acting as Seeker. As Im sure you know, Fred and I are beaters"--the brothers exchanged grins--"so, of course, that was what we were practicing. Well, Meril was off 'seeking', Katie was doing her chasing duties, and Fred and I--on opposite teams--were patrolling. Well, I spotted Meril reaching for the 'snitch' and I aimed the bludger at her. Well, my aim must have been off or maybe she moved, but it slammed into her hand and well...you can see the rest," he finished quite lamely.

"_This_ is why I think Quidditch should be banned. Always _someone_ coming in here with some sort of injury. It's a wonder no one's died yet! Now come here, dearie, and let me have a look at your hand."

Meril was led to a bed across from the one other patient, who was muttering to herself quite loudly now. Meril felt rather disturbed as she listened to the young girl who lay there, writhing about and ranting madly about something or other. She had never really liked hospitals, and this was one of the--many--reasons why.

"What's...what's wrong with her?" she inquired in what she hoped was a nonchalant way. Madam Pomfrey peered over her shoulder and clucked her tongue.

"Took a bad potion. Made her quite ill. Of course it didn't help that she already had a cold. She'll be fine though, don't you worry about her."

"Okay."

The nurse stared at Meril's bright haired companions for a moment before saying, "You two don't have to stay, you know. It's a nice day outside. You should be enjoying it, not cooped up in here."

"No, that's alright. We got quite enough fresh air this morning," Fred replied, smiling brightly.

The nurse raised her eyebrows wordlessly; the twins didn't falter.

"Fine, you can stay. But make yourselves useful. You see Esmeralda over there? She needs the sweat mopped off of her brow and a dose of that potion on her bedside table. Well? Go on!"

George carefully moved forward. He grabbed the potion, unscrewed the lid and--

"OH! UGH, THAT'S NASTY!" he screamed, jumping away. The lid fell to the floor with a clatter, blocking out his string of profanities, and he clutched his nose. Fred was laughing hysterically at his brother until the other Weasley carefully brought the potion closer. Fred caught a whiff of it and immediately fell silent, his face purple as he tried not to breathe. Madam Pomfrey herself looked sickened, though she managed to react in a much nicer way. Meanwhile, Meril's face was growing increasingly paler and her eyes were watering both from the pain her hand was in, but also the pain her senses were now in.

"Poor Esmeralda," she muttered, shaking her head. The twins briefly joined her in her mourning.

"You two should save yourselves while you can," she continued, sensing their conflicting emotions.

"Are you sure?" George asked tentatively while, at the same time, his brother hollered, "YES! FREE!"

"Positive," Meril said with a firm nod. She grinned as Fred continued to dance and her smile broadened as George hesitantly joined him.

It was then, and only then, that Esmeralda began to stir. She blinked rapidly a few times and looked around the room, positively horrified by _something_--Meril could only assume it was a mixture of the stench--George never had replaced the lid--and of seeing the fifth year boys dancing like lunatics.

"We feel for you, Esmeralda!" George exclaimed as he and his twin headed for the exit.

"Yes! Hope that the potion doesn't eat you!" Fred added, smiling cheerily.

"We'll visit you soon, Mer!" George guaranteed, poking his head through the door; it closed on his neck. "_Ow!_! Fred!"

"Sorry!" the other Weasley apologized rather sheepishly.

George rolled his eyes and pointed out towards the hall, earning himself a giggle from Meril.

"See you later."

"Bye, Mer!"

"Feel better!" Fred called from out in the hall.

"Will do!"

And with that, they were gone.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril frowned as she stared up at the ceiling, holding her breath to block out the putrid smell. It wasn't the potion anymore; she was sure of it. No, it was something much more simple yet eternally worse--the Hospital Smell. Meril shuddered thinking about it. Her stomach churned as she caught a whiff. Hastily, she rolled onto her stomach and buried her face into the fluffy, clean, white hospital pillow.

"Ow," she muttered blankly. She removed her bandaged, stinging left hand from under the pillow and simply allowed it to dangle along beside her. She had been laying there in the Hospital Wing for an entire day, and the twins had not returned as they had promised. No one had been into see her. She wondered, briefly, if anyone had even noticed that she was gone. Surely Lee would have--unless he was, once again, wrapped up in chasing Angelina around. And of course that would mean Angelina was busy escaping him while Alicia ran along with her, laughing.

But what about Katie? She had _been_ there when the accident happened--surely she would have realized something? Or maybe Oliver? He was...he...he seemed to care.

_I just wish somebody cared,_ Meril thought moodily; it wasn't even entirely true. She wasn't desperate for somebody to care; just for company. It was lonely being locked up in the Hospital Wing. Sure, it was nice being able to lounge about in your pajamas and not have to worry about class (though that didn't necessarily mean that there would be no homework for her to take care of), but Meril needed interaction. She wanted to hear one of the twins' jokes, or for Lee to give her the scoop and hear him bad-mouth Slytherins, as he did during nearly every commentary he performed. She wanted for Angelina's and Alicia's giggles to fill the room. Her ears longed to listen to Ollie rave about Quidditch in his thick Scottish accent. Heck, she wouldn't even mind listening to Heather gush about Cedric (she had been waiting for a while) or to hear her whining about someone; maybe she could even put up with the Hufflepuff telling her how "gorgeous" Meril was. She missed the sounds of her friends. She had gone too long without hearing them, and she thought that, being back at Hogwarts, she wouldn't have to anymore--ever. She pictured that she would always have a friend by her side. She lifted her head and looked around; no friend on any side of her. She sighed and allowed her head to fall straight back down onto the pillow.

Meril must have fallen asleep because the next time she opened her eyes, the front of her bed was covered in sweets and treat of all kinds. She smiled softly, reaching towards an interestingly wrapped gift. It was larger than anything else there by far, and attached to it was a note reading 'Proceed with caution.'

Meril would recognize that handwriting _anywhere_. It was Fred. She chuckled to herself as she slowly tore open the present.

There were two things there. One was a large, oval platter surrounded by a glass sphere. Inside was a miniature version of the Quidditch Pitch. Everything was exactly right about it--to the very last detail. And there was Fred, George, Katie and herself, all in miniature form. Meril felt her stomach drop as she saw that it was a reenactment. She was shooting up towards the sky, she was dazed, she saw the imaginary Snitch, and then...

_CRACK_!

Even in miniature version, the sound of the Bludger making impact with Meril's hand was loud. The real Meril grimaced; she glanced down at her bandaged hand and groaned before looking back to the pitch. There she was, flying to the ground, one hand held close to her chest. On her face was a look of pure agony that Meril hadn't even realized she was wearing. No wonder none of them were convinced that she was okay.

"Clever," the real Meril chuckled. She ran her right hand over the glass and found a note attached to it that she hadn't seen before. She tore it off and looked it over.

"_Here is our special gift to you. We wanted to save it until your birthday, but we decided that it couldn't wait. Don't worry; we'll get you something else instead. Fred and George, your loyal servants,_" the brunette whispered. She chuckled, folded the note, and put it on her bedside table. It didn't explain what exactly the model was or what it did as she had hopes, but it was nice all the same.

With as much caution as before, she turned to the box that had been in the parcel and opened that as well. What was inside was so peculiar she had to let out a laugh.

The twins had transformed a dungbomb into the shape and size of a bludger. The only thing that gave it away was the tiny F&G marking on it. If Meril hadn't been looking for _something_ that would tell her it wasn't really a bludger and not just a cleverly disguised Dungbomb--as the note Fred had written (_"George and Lee came up with this one; The King of all Dungbombs for the Queen of Tricks._").

"Very nice guys; very nice!" Meril laughed. She carefully put it back in its box and set it next to the other gift from the twins on her bedside table. She then proceeded to open the usual assortment of candies and Zonko's tricks. There were things from Angelina, Alicia, Lee, Katie, Ginny (whom she had barely spoken two words to that year though thought of her as a little sister), Percy (whom she barely spoke to _ever_), Cedric, her mother, and even _Professor Chatham_, but she didn't see a single thing from Heather. Meril heaved a sigh and closed her eyes. She felt the now-familiar prickle in her throat and leaned back in bed.

_I don't get it; I thought things were getting better between us,_ she thought, squeezing her eyes tight. _I hate myself for getting us into this; why am I so difficult?_

She couldn't even force herself to be mad at Heather, even though the Hufflepuff was just as guilty as Meril was. The fight was two sided and neither was trying very hard to patch the hole that had been made. Heather had in the beginning, but Meril lashed out at her. Now, Meril was trying--even just a little--and Heather just....wasn't interested, it seemed.

Meril's throat was now burning. She blinked rapidly and took shaky breaths. Heather didn't care. Heather _always_ cared--even when no one else did; even when no one else was there for her, _Heather_ was. Meril told her everything; she trusted her with **more** than _just_ her life. Heather wasn't Meril's best friend; she wasn't just a "sister-from-another-mister"; she was Meril Lizlow's other half. Without her, Meril felt empty; without her, she was incomplete.

"Good afternoon Me--bloody hell! What's wrong with you?"

Meril blinked and stared at the entry way. There Lee stood, holding a parcel in his hands. He was frowning at his injured friend carefully, studying her. Meril averted her gaze, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

"Nothing," she muttered as Dreadlocks drew closer. "Nothing. Madam Pomfrey just gave me a really _nasty_ potion. I was just--"

"Miss Lizlow!!! Time for you to take your potion! You were asleep before when I needed to give it to you, so there's twice as much. And before you ask--yes, that's safe!"

The nurse handed the small girl a large goblet and then scurried off back to her office. Meril's face was bright red and she avoided Lee's amused and accusing gaze.

"Nasty potion, eh?" Lee snickered.

"Shut up!" Meril scowled, her face growing even hotter. She took a deep breath and gulped down the goblet of potion, her stomach turning inside-out as she did so. She felt Lee watching her as she took large swallows and tried to make them smaller. If she could hide her face for a few moments longer, maybe her eyes wouldn't be red anymore...

"So, Mer..." Lee began. Meril quickly brought the goblet back up to her lips, hoping that maybe she had left some of the gnarly potion in there by mistake; no such luck.

"Is the potion _that_ good?" Lee inquired, struggling to keep a straight face.

"Yes. It was delicious," Meril replied slowly, licking her lips. Meanwhile, she still felt like throwing up; her stomach was churning, her throat was burning...

"Did you like the gifts?" the Quidditch commentator asked eagerly, his face lighting up. Meril grinned back easily, pleased that he had dropped the question from before.

"They were very clever," she replied, thinking of the two the twins had left her.

Lee nodded. "Yes, they were. What about the one I got you?"

He began rummaging through the pile until he found what he was looking for--it was a box of new Zonko's products. There were all sorts of clever things in there, but what really caught Meril's eye was this box. It looked like an ordinary music box, and when you opened it, it started playing like one, too--until it lets out this blood-curdling scream and a dummy flies out of nowhere onto the floor, bloody. Just as Fred and George had done, Lee had left a note explaining this thing. It seemed a bit...over-the-top, but that was Meril's style.

She smiled at Lee and nodded. "Yes, I do. Quite a bit in fact. Seems handy."

Lee grinned mischievously. "Yes, I believe it will be."

"But, how did you get them so quickly?"

"Mail order, of course."

"Yes, but still--"

"Hogsmeade is _right there_, Meril, and besides, Fred, George, and I are favorites there. Zonko loves us."

"Well, aren't you special," Meril scowled, causing Lee to laugh.

"So, where are Fred and George at this time?" the brunette asked causally. She picked up a book and began leafing through it, just stopping to look at the illustrations.

"Discussing something..."

"With Jennifer, I presume?"

"Err...yes," the boy hesitantly replied; he tightened his hold on the package he held.

"Oh." Meril's lips tightened and her eyes flashed, but she refrained from saying anything more. Instead, she looked towards the gifts the Weasley boys had given her, left on the table. The miniature Quidditch pitch was still replaying the scene from the day before. She grimaced and turned away.

"What exactly _is_ that thing anyway?" she questioned. "I mean, it's awesome, but...what is it supposed to do?"

"It shows what is going on at the Quidditch Pitch at any given moment."

Meril frowned. "But that happened yesterday."

"Yes, it can also replay events that have already occurred, as well as events that are happening presently."

Meril leaned forward, her face eager. "That's so cool. How...how do you?"

Lee shrugged. "I'm not sure; you'd have to ask Fred or George."

"Well how did they make it so quickly?"

Dreadlocks shook his head. "They didn't. The two of them have been working on it since at _least_ the middle of last year. Worked on it like crazy, those two did. Finished it over the summer, I believe, or maybe it was the first week of school...It's amazing, isn't it?"

"It is," Meril breathed. She had never before realized just how _good_ the twins were at magic. She always just considered them pranksters; jokesters; trouble-makers. It made her feel as if she barely knew them, seeing how amazing they were to make something like that. No one ever acknowledged them for it; they never talked about it. It made knowing kind of difficult, but that was what made Meril feel even worse. _She_ should know; they were two of her very best friends! She should _know_ something as simple as that!

_They know how good you are at potions; they know, and you never talk about it. They **know**,_ a voice hissed in the back of Meril's mind, making her stomach plummet.

What kind of friend was she, anyway?

"Err...Meril? Are you alright?"

But Meril couldn't hear Lee; her ears were filled with a humming which was growing steadily louder and her mind was filled with thoughts; with hissing, accusing voices.

_Fred and George know that you actually are smart, even though you don't show it; even though no one acknowledges it; even though you act like you aren't. Why can't you see the same for them?_

"Meril? Meril?! _Meril!!!_"

The brunette blinked her bleary blue eyes and turned ever-so slowly towards her friend, who had stood up and now had his face awfully close to hers. She blinked again a few times, her face unnaturally blank, before she realized where she was exactly.

"Oh! Sorry Lee! Were you...did you say something?"

The dark boy heaved a sigh and fell back in his chair, holding his face in his hands. "Sometimes I worry about you, Meril," he murmured.

"Doesn't everyone," the girl replied quietly. She turned her head to take a look around. It was still relatively empty in the Hospital Wing. Esmeralda Jones still lay across the aisle from her. She screamed a lot in her sleep, her brow covered in sweat.

"I feel bad for that girl," Meril sighed, looking back towards Lee. He looked over his shoulder and frowned.

"Who is she?"

"Esmeralda Jones," Meril replied sadly.

Lee shook his head. "Never heard of her."

"She's a first year; a Slytherin."

Lee raised an eyebrow. "You feel bad for a _Slytherin_?"

Meril shrugged. "Just look at her, Lee. How would you like to be lying there, _no visitors_ for countless days. She s sleeping all of the time--restless. She screams a lot. And she has to drink this vile potion--worse than mine. Hers even smells terrible. I wonder if anyone has even noticed she's missing. She's been in here at least a week; maybe more. I don't see a single parcel by her side."

Lee squirmed uncomfortably in his chair; he held the package ever closer to him, meanwhile sending guilty glances in the young girl's direction.

Meril sighed deeply and tore herself away from the sad sight before her. "Speaking of gifts...what's that you got there?"

"This? This is just something I was told to give to you."

"Oh? Who' it from?" Meril inquired, surprised, as she accepted the hastily wrapped item from her friend.

Lee shrugged. "It is not my position to say."

"But you know who it is?"

Lee hesitantly nodded.

"Right. So I can weasel it out of you! Yay!" She laughed lightly, an airy, tinkling noise, as she tore off the gift wrap. "Jeez, this is like an early birthday! Look at all of this!" She placed the half-opened gift down and gestured towards the multitude of presents that were surrounding her area.

"Yes, it certainly is. And you'll be getting even more when your birthday actually comes!"

Meril's grin broadened. "You think these people will still get me stuff?"

Lee nodded. "I do. Now open that gift; I want to see what you go!"

Meril happily obliged. She ripped the remaining paper and found a cardboard box waiting to be torn open. Without a moment's hesitation, she tore the Spellotape from the box and found, inside, a bunch of packing peanuts--"What _are_ these?" Meril wondered aloud, pulling one out and examining it. She then threw it and a bunch of others at Lee--protecting a very beautiful, oval-shaped box. It was made entirely of silver. All around the silver weaved itself ornately around, leaving little holes of empty space. he silver criss-crossed and spun, giving the box an incredibly elegant look.

It stood on four silver legs, each individual and just as complex and stunning as the box itself. But what _really_ caught Meril's attention was the lid. Unlike the rest of it, it was completely solid. All along the edge there were words encrypted in the most beautiful handwriting Meril had ever seen. She squinted in hopes that maybe she would be able to read what had been written there, but alas, she could not. So, instead, she focused on the lid's handle. It was a magnificent silver swan, so realistic looking it made Meril gasp. It had sparkling diamond eyes and a sapphire collar around its long, graceful neck.

The brunette sat back and simply stared at this treasure she had just received. She had never seen anything like it before. She reached forward to stroke it but recoiled, afraid that she would break it with her clumsy touch.

"Open it. There's always something inside," Lee advised, clearly not as transfixed by the box as Meril was.

Gingerly, the amazed girl took hold of the lid and lifted it. Inside, just as Lee had said there would be, there was another gift. It was a pouch nearly as beautiful as the box it resided in, made of the finest blue silk and tied with what appeared to be unicorn hair. With trembling fingers Meril opened the pouch. Inside were a bunch of trinkets, most of which seemed to have no point whatsoever except to make its viewers gasp.

There were little crystal figurines--a swan among them--and a tiny tooth-pick sword. Meril was surprised at how much stuff was inside such a tiny pouch. She pulled out one thing after another, but there didn't seem to be an end. Her eyes widened with each thing she pulled out until finally she thought her eyes were going to fall completely out of their sockets. She pulled out a lovely necklace with a silver chain. On it hung teardrop diamonds, a large sitting in the center with about five little ones on each side. Following that she found a matching set of earrings and a bracelet.

The last thin to fall out of the bag, though, was a ring--a simple ring. Like just about everything else, it was silver. Unlike most other things, however, it was not delicate. To the contrary, it was big and heavy. There was the same beautiful swan engraved on it, its outline gold.

"Who...Lee, who is this from?" she asked weakly. Her original assumption now seemed feeble and unrealistic. Why on earth would Heather get her such exquisite things, even if they were best friends (disregarding the fact that they were fighting). It was utterly ridiculous. Heather could never afford such things.

"Lee?" Meril demanded, staring at him. However, the boy was at a loss for words. His brown eyes were wide as he stared at the silver box.

"I...that doesn't make sense. Why would she...? No, no. It can't be..." he muttered. Then, without another word, he stood up and moved quickly towards the door.

"Erm...uh...bye Meril," he muttered, quickly waving. "Hope you feel better."

"Wait! Lee! Who was it?!"

But it was too late; Lee Jordan had left Meril alone with her many gifts, left her to figure out who had given this to her, all by herself.

Tentatively, she replaced each item into the little pouch. What was she to do with such things? How was she ever to keep them safe? And who would give her such things as a get well present? It just didn't make sense. And then there was the question of what that swan represented. She could have sworn she had seen it before--a long time ago.

She sighed, placing the gorgeous silver box back into the cardboard one and shoved it under her bed.

"Oh! What's that?" she wondered. A piece of parchment lay on the floor surrounded by packing peanuts. She furrowed her brow and picked it up; a letter.

_Dearest Meril,  
I wanted to give this to you for your seventeenth birthday, but I am afraid to say that I shall no longer be bound here to this earth when that time comes. The Higher Ups have decided my time here on earth with you is just about over, and I must get this to you before someone comes along and steals it.  
The box I am entrusting to you and the things inside of it are of the highest value; guard them, treasure them. I hope some day you shall pass them on as well to someone you love; someone you treasure more than these items.  
It is my deepest regret that I never got to know you better. I wish I could go back and be a part of your life, but it is too late and there is nothing I can do but wish that you will be able to forgive me; that is my life's final request. And, well, it would also be nice to see your face one last time before I pass.  
Take care, my darling Meril._

_Love, Adalmund_

At the top and at the bottom of the parchment there was the swan, now in ink form. Meril stared at the letter, rereading it over and over, until her eyes burned.

"...Who on _earth_ is Adalmund?!"


	16. A Confusing Business

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Fifteen—  
**A Confusing Business

* * *

Another day; gone. How come it was taking so long for her hand to heal? It still ached with pain, yet she had been taking that horrid potion for 48 hours, and Madam Pomfrey had been giving her endless attention. She did nothing but rest and do homework that she was falling behind on. And yet she wasn't permitted to leave. Usually, by now, weren't the patients released? Meril glanced towards the poor first year and sighed; well, expect for cases like hers, weren't people normally gone by the second day?

Frowning, she reached towards her nightstand and grabbed the letter. Adalmund. The name was as elusive as the swan, possibly even more so. They were both so familiar, and yet Meril could not, for the life of her, think of why. She opened the elegant piece of parchment once again, her eyes flickering over the words. She had already memorized it from reading it so much, searching for some hidden answers in the tight scrawl. Much to her disappointment, nothing was revealed to her any of the times she read it. It was a letter; just a simple letter.

The brunette blew her bangs irritably, throwing the letter back down beside the miniature Quidditch pitch. She was getting cranky, cooped up in the Hospital Wing. She couldn't move, she couldn't have fun; nothing. She was just..._stuck_ there. Her legs were getting antsy and hr breathing was becoming shallow. Sometimes it seemed as if the walls were closing in on her and the blankets were tightening around her thin body.

"I hate hospitals," she gasped, sitting up. Her breathing was constricted again. She struggled to release herself from the crisp white sheets. Her arms flailed and her legs were kicking; she nearly knocked over the water pitcher placed at the foot of her bed.

"I'll help you break out later, Ezmie," Meril, using the nickname she had given the ever-sleeping girl, whispered; of course, the fever-stricken child made no reaction except to give a little squeak and turn over restlessly.

"I know how feel," Meril said, nodding solemnly. She glanced towards the nurse's over and noted with a smile that Madam Pomfrey was busy. As quietly as she could, she crept past the open-doored office, pulled the Hospital Wing door open, and slipped out into the empty corridor. Empty...she hadn't been expecting it, but it worked fine for her. Certainly made getting around a whole lot easier, though highly suspicious. What would the professors say if they saw a student wandering around during class time? She glanced down at her attire; a long-sleeve, navy-blue shirt and blue and white plaid shorts. It wasn't exactly "school appropriate" and she had a feeling that, if she didn't get in trouble for sneaking out of the Hospital Wing (for surely the teachers all knew that that was where she was supposed to be) than she would get in trouble for wandering around in her pajamas, her feet entirely bare.

Feeling quite jittery all of a sudden, she moved down the halls on the alert. She had just been to detention and ended up being banned from the library--if she had to have _another_ detention; she shuddered to think about what could happen. Her hand gave another pang; instinctively, she jerked it up towards her chest, cradling it as she walked silently along, turning every once in a while. She didn't know exactly where she was going, just that she was getting as far away from the Hospital Wing as she--

"Bloody hell!" she swore, stamping her foot down. She must have taken one-too many left turns because she was right where she had started--the closed Hospital Wing door. She wondered momentarily whether Madam Pomfrey had realized that she was missing yet. Guilt began to find its way into her, crawling up her spine all the way to her shoulder. She brushed it off before it could get any further and hurried back the way she had come. Her feet pattered loudly on the cold cobblestone. She thought she saw people glance out open doorways at her as she whizzed past.

"I say, what _are_ you doing?!" one painting insisted as she made her way down the stairs.

"Walking," Meril pleasantly replied.

"Are those your _clothes_? I thought you were supposed to wear uniforms? I do say, this school has become quite lax about the dress code! In my day--"

"Yes, yes, I'm sure everyone was an angel and followed every single rule. No one would ever be obnoxious or cause trouble, or even escape from the Hospital Wing! No, no, they all sat around like boring lumps doing work twenty-four-seven."

"Well I never!" the painting huffed, looking indignantly.

"And now you have. Good day!"

The brunette continued on her way down the stairs, ignoring the hum in her ears as the paintings that surrounded her whispered.

"My dear, did I hear you say you broke out of the Hospital Wing?" one bold painting called, jogging alongside of her.

_Does this staircase never **end**?!_ she shrieked in her head.

"Err...yes?" she replied, sorting herself out.

"Well whatever for?!"

"Err...fresh air? Freedom?"

"Well I don't see why you can't--"

"Bye!" Meril said loudly. She hopped off the stairs, waving lazily at the paintings, most of which had crammed themselves into the last, tiny frame at the edge of the stairs.

The tall Entrance Doors loomed before her. She smiled; it had been so long since she had seen them. So very long...

She quickened her pace, suddenly excited to get a breath of fresh air. It wasn't natural for her to be cooped up for so long; and in a hospital no less! They might as well have sentenced her to death!

Her hand closed around the handle; the metal was cool to touch. Meril smiled widely and gave the door a tug. Fresh air flew into the castle. It was cool and crisp in a way that only late September air could be. The doors opened the rest of the way and Meril stood in the middle of them, a tiny, insignifican't wafer in the immense doorway. The sun poured down onto her, filling her with immense warmth and then--

The smile fell from her face; she shivered and shook despite the sunlight she stood in. Her mind was filled with flashes of her worst memories. A green light flashed, over and over, until she couldn't take it anymore. Her insides had hardened and cooled. Her heart felt heavy in her chest. Subconsciously, she clawed at her chest. Maybe, if she could just rip her heart out, she wouldn't have to feel it anymore.

She fell to her knees, still tearing at her chest with her nails. The cold was getting closer, and she was getting more and more miserable. She heard screams--her own, younger screams. She could see her father's wiry body fall to the floor, motionless. His killer stared for a moment and swept off, leaving the front door wide open.

Her screams filled her mind; she wasn't even sure anymore whether they were from the past and the present; it didn't really matter. Her father was dead; killed; _murdered_. And by his own colleague! A man Meril had seen many times before, even _liked_! She screamed, her salty tears pouring into her mouth. She knelt by her father; his eyes had lost their sparkle. Meril gasped and stumbled backwards. She was choking; she couldn't breath. She tore at her throat and ran outside, her tiny, six-year-old legs carrying her as far and fast as they could. She needed to find that man! She would kill him; she would!  
Her heart was pounding in her chest; she thought it might explode. Her feet was sore and bleeding from all the rocks she had stepped on, chasing that man, and yet, he wasn't there. She told herself he would be just around the corner; he couldn't have gotten **that** far. She would punch him and kick him for what he did to her dad.  
Her dad....  
She stopped abruptly, tears spilling down her once-shining face. Her tiny shoulders heaved and she fell to the ground, crumpled, defeated.  
"Daddy!" she wailed, choking on her own air.

"Daddy," she croaked. Her eyes shot open, a fresh bout of tears glimmering on the surface. Her anguish was still weighing down on her chest, but she forced herself to stand. She was _not_ going to sit there sobbing like a baby. She never did that; that wasn't her. And her dad wouldn't like it. He would want to see his beautiful smiling daughter, so bouncy and full of life.

Her legs shook and her knees buckled, but she managed to pull the doors closed, shutting the despair outside with the fresh air. She was covered in a cold sweat as she turned back around; the portraits were all staring at her. She blinked back at them before shaking her head and walking away. She did hope that no one heard her. They'd probably think Sirius Black and broken into the castle and murdered someone. Then a search would begin, and, well...it wouldn't be terribly pleasant. However, it couldn't be any worse than what would happen if someone had heard her scream and also _seen_ her. She'd probably be rushed off to St. Mungo's, and straight after she came back, she'd be thrown ten detentions.

She sighed and continued to walk. She could still feel herself shaking and the green flash of light kept going off in her mind. Her head throbbed in sync with her hand; she blinked rapidly, hoping to rid herself of the memories.

It didn't work.

It never did.

She didn't even care where she was going; just that she continued to move. If she didn't keep moving, she would probably just break down in cry--something she never used to do but seemed to have taken a great liking to recently.

_I'm such a cry-baby,_ she groaned inside her head; the flashing green light momentarily ceased. _All I seem to do now is cry. On the train, in class, getting hit by the bludger, the Hospital Wing. There, here; then, now. Everywhere I go. I think I might be emotionally disturbed._

She cracked a smile at the thought. Anyway she looked at it, there was St. Mungo's, looming in front of her. It was her future, it seemed. She would be headed straight for the Mental Ward.

It was thoughts like these, thoughts that disturbed yet amused her, that got Meril to where she was headed (although she didn't know it) without any more dreadful thoughts or noticeable throbs of pain. The only pain she did notice was the one in her stomach; she hadnt eaten properly since Saturday morning. Another thing about Hospitals she hated--the food absolutely _sucked_. Even Hogwarts food was terrible there. Maybe it was because there wasn't enough, or maybe just everything else tainted the food, but Meril could not get a proper meal when she was in there.

Which was why it was so convenient (and ironic)that she ended up where she did. The painting was enormous. Meril stared at the painting hungrily for a few moments before remembering how to get in. She reached up, tickled the pear, and the painting swung forward, revealing a gigantic kitchen swarming with house elves.

"Good morning, miss!" they squeaked in unison as the painting swung shot. Meril grinned uneasily; those big eyes unnerved her.

"Hello!" Her smile widened as she plopped down at one of the tables. House elves came rushing up to her, platters at the ready. The pajama-clad girl happily accepted everything they brought her.

"Thanks!" She swallowed the last bit of her sandwich and moved onto the treacle tart. A handful of elves stood around her, their tennis-ball eyes wide as they watched her eat, savoring each second of her pleasure. After all, if as a house-elves greatest desire to please those that they served.

"You sure know what you're doing, don't you guys? This food is amazing. I don't know how I'll survive when I go back home! Don't tell her I said this, but my mom's cooking is _nothing_ compared to Hogwarts food!"

The elves beamed, bowed, and curtsied at the fourteen-year old, their eyes never leaving her chocolate-stained face. Meril, growing disconcerted, looked away, smiling unsurely, and continued her feast. Her stomach was slowly filling, making her smile happily. As long as she had good food and decent company, she was content.

Meril chugged her pumpkin juice, absolutely parched after the sweet dessert. An elf scurried forward and refilled her empty glass.

"Thanks," the teen said sweetly. She drank this more slowly now, watching the elves, who hovered by her side in anticipation, out of the corner of her eye.

_Thank Merlin's dirty knickers Mam decided against getting a house-elf,_ she thought with a slight shudder, closing her eyes to escape their eager gazes. _Bloody useful, but..._. She shuddered again.

The kitchen door/painting opened again and two very familiar voices came floating into the room.

"Did you hear? Lunch is late," one said.

"That's odd. The house-elves have never been late before."

"I bet someone is distracting them," the first said knowingly.

"Can that happen?" the second wondered.

And that was when the door closed and their attention seemed to move from one another to the huge cluster of house-elves surrounding the starving girl.

"Of course," Fred said sarcastically, throwing his arms in the air.

"Who else would hold up lunch for everyone else?" George added, rolling his eyes.

"Do you reckon she's eaten it all by now?"

"I reckon she might've."

Meril glared at the freckled-boys as the house elves bustled off, carrying off her plates while others, hearing the news that they were late, hurried to fill the House tables with food.

"I was not holding them up!" Meril indignantly declared, jumping to her feet. The twins moved closer to her and stared down; her head barely reached over their shoulders, but her glare was fierce.

"I'm sure," George sad sarcastically.

"You fat cow," Fred teased, poking her unbearably flat stomach.

She jumped away from his touch and hugged herself. "Oh, well ex-_cuuuuse_ me! First I'm anorexic and now I'm a 'fat cow?' Make up your minds, mates!"

"You are..." George began, biting his sticking-out tongue as he thought for a moment. Meril averted her gaze, her heart beating at an alarming rate. "An anorexically-fat cow."

"Oh, bravo!" Fred sarcastically applauded as Meril blinked.

"That doesn't even make _sense_," she blankly pointed out.

George pinched her cheek and stuck his tongue out at her, winking. "That's the point, now isn't it?" He poked her nose; she scowled.

"What are you two doing here?" she finally asked.

"Same reason you are!" Fred said, grinning.

Meril blinked and pointed upwards. "What about lunch? Up there?"

"Well, that got delayed, now didn't it?" His grin broadened as Meril's scowl deepened.

"It totally is **not** the point! Why do you two both think that it is?"

"Great minds think alike," the said in unison, shrugging.

Meril stared at them, wide eyed, then pointed. "You know how creepy that is, right?"

"Yes," they replied, still speaking at exactly the same time in the same exact way. Meril shuddered and turned away from them, choosing instead to watch the house elves bustle about. They had begun to swarm around the three again, and the twins seemed rather pleased by the attention some were giving them, completely ignoring the others who seemed to think it was time for them to go. Meril sunk down into the corner silently, unable to think of some other place to go. It didn't even occur to her that she should try to get away from the twins. Why would it? They were her friends, and they snuck off all the time! Why would they even think of dragging her back to the Hospital Wing?

A few minutes past and Meril simply sat there in the corner, wiggling her toes and staring into space as the twins were served by the house elves. Seriously, to those two, being served food by those guys was like having "hot girls" crawling all over them; they positively glowed. Meril snorted rather loudly at the thought, barely able to contain her laughter, and that was when the Weasleys remembered her presence. They dropped the food they were holding (the house elves squealed and quickly cleaned it up as if it were some contagious disease).

"You!" Fred accusingly said, pointing at me; George joined his twin in staring and pointing at the pajama-clad brunette.

Meril looked startled. "What?"

"Shouldn't you be in the Hospital Wing?" George said slowly, his eyebrow cocked. He and his twin were moving in on the girl. She jumped to her feet and made a run for it, but they cornered her in. She paused for a moment before ducking under their arms and moving to escape, but they simply grabbed the back of her shirt and dragged her back.

"Come on, love! Let's go!" Fred cheerily commanded; his eyes twinkled as he hooked his arm with hers. George followed suit and together, the two strong Weasleys carried the light weight--backwards--out of the kitchen. They didn't let her go there, though. Oh, no. They kept carrying her along; the Lizlow was kicking all the way, muttering complaints about the hospital; the twins paid no heed, simply dragged her along, humming happily to themselves as if they had accomplished something marvelous.

"Come on guys! Don't make me go back! I need my freedom!" the brunette whined, looking over her shoulder at the two freckled brothers.

"Oh, you'll survive. I'm sure you've had plenty of entertainment!" Fred snorted, waving his free hand dismissively.

"Yeah!" George agreed. "Lee said he had been in."

"Yes, but you guys never came," Meril pointed out. "You promised you would come back, and you didn't. You were too busy with _Jennifer_ to care for your poor crippled friend." She sniffed and attempted to dab at her eyes, but her arms were too restricted for her hands to reach her face. She settled for sniffing all the more loudly.

"Once you find out what we're doing, I really don't think you'll care so much," George whispered, a frown blemishing his perfect face.

"You may actually be quite pleased," Fred added after a moment's hesitation. Obviously he decided it was safe for him to say something since George did and made no objection. It appeared to Meril that whatever was going on, George was in charge of. Or at least, he was the one keeping it hushed up, seeing as Fred kept letting little things slip (and George would nudge his ribs or smack him upside the head).

"I highly doubt that," the female snorted, turning her head back around. She glared at everyone they past, all of whom were watching the three with mild amusement and bemusement.

"Mind your own business," she snarled when someone opened their mouth to ask what was going on. The boy blushed and scampered away; just about everyone else in the vicinity followed suit.

"Why don't you think you'll be pleased?" George inquired sounding worried. Meril glanced at him and noticed his eyebrows were pulled tightly together in thoughtful concentration. Meril's lips twitched slightly.

"It's not that I won't be pleased by whatever you're doing," she soothed. "It's just that I would rather you do it with someone other than that bossy, control freak, jerk-y Hufflepuff."

"Oh, someone more like a...a snarling, sneaking, pranking, jealous Gryffindor?" Fred suggested, staring pointedly.

"J-jealous?" Meril snorted. She dragged her heels on the ground until the twins stopped walking. "_Jealous_? What on earth would I be **jealous** of?"

"See how she doesn't deny the other things I said?" Fred murmured; George grinned and nodded.

"Well, thats because I _am_ the other things you said! But jealous? No."

"Oh, I think you are."

"George? Do you?" Her piercing gaze found its way towards the other twin; he nodded.

"See, you are jealous that we are spending time with someone other than _you_. You hate to think that we could bear to be separated from you, our _Queen_. Mer, we've been doing it for two years; we've gotten used to it."

"And of course, we **want** to spend time with you," George added before a sound could exit Meril's open mouth. "And yes, Jennifer is a pretty terrible person, but she's the best person to do the job. ITrust us on that. Even Heather agrees!"

Meril's angry face fell. "So you guys are talking to Heather, too?" she squeaked. Sure she had seen them all over that parchment one time, but...more than that?

George nodded.

"And you know," Fred continued, "we aren't the only ones hanging out with other people. Half the time we even _are_ available, you're off with Angelina, Alicia, or Oliver. And sometimes you even drag Lee off with you! And we have never once complained, or gotten angry or jealous over it, because we know you have other friends and other things to do than hang out with us! We _know_ that! You've been gone for **two years**; of course you'd want to catch up with everyone. We get that! So don't you go complaining that we're never there to hang out with, you...you..._hypocrite_, when we're off doing something **for you**!"

"You went to far, Fred," George whispered. Whether it was about him calling Meril a hypocrite or if it was because what he said about it being for her, Meril didn't know, but she didn't care either. She turned away and ducked her head so her long, wavy brown hair covered up her red face. She swallowed, hoping that the lump which was--once again--forming in hr throat would go away; and it finally did, only not the way the girl was hoping it would. The lump had dissolved into her eyes and tears were once again trickling down her cheeks.

"Please let me go," she choked, not daring to look over at them.

"No; you'll just run off again. You need to be in the Hospital Wing."

"What do you guys care anyway? Just...just leave me alone."

"Mer--" Fred began softly. All the anger that had just been in his voice had completely disappeared and it was left as melodious as ever. He twisted slightly and gently touched her hair, tucking it behind her ear; she turned away. "Look, I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to. It's just that..."

"I anger you so much that you can't help it?" she 'helpfully' suggested, the bitterness evident in her voice.

"No, Meril. You don't anger us," George piped up; his voice, too, was soft and gentle, as was his touch. He carefully pulled her hair away from her face and tried to get her to look at him, but she refused.

"It's just that..." Fred continued; he stumbled over himself, trying to find the right words. "We're missed you, and we're trying to do this awesome thing for you, but you just keep getting angry and jealous."

"It makes us think that you won't like it, and that we're wasting our time even trying."

"We really want to do this for you. And in order to do it completely right, we _need_ Jennifer's help. She's really good at what she does, and even though we had to bribe her--"

"--and hire her," George interrupted.

"Yes, bribe and hire her, we think it will be worth it."

"And we'll stop talking to her once it is all over," George said soothingly.

"We like her probably just about as much as you do."

"So we'll have no problem _at all_ dropping her."

"We just hope she won't mind too much."

"Yes, I think our boyish charms might jus be too much for her to handle, don't you Fred?"

"Oh yes, I quite agree. Did you ever notice how she gets all flustered and slaps us?"

"Oh, yes; she _so_ wants us."

"Too bad that we're not available, eh Gred?"

"Yes, too bad for her, Forge; too bad we arent available _for her_."

"I feel bad for whatever handkerchief she uses when she finds out."

"It might just sprout legs and run off."

"I know _I _always want to when she's around."

"You already have legs, Fred."

He stopped walking abruptly--Meril hadnt even realized they were moving in the first place--and stared down. "Is that what those things are? Funny contraptions."

At long last, Meril giggled. The twins exchanged pleased glances and continued on walking, still discussing how much everyone--and every_thing_ disliked Jennifer, which was sure to keep Meril laughing for a long while.

"I wonder if she's ever had a boyfriend," Fred wondered.

"They probably ended up in the Hospital Wing, if she did. Imagine dating her, eh?"

"Ha ha. Yeah....but speaking of the Hospital Wing..."

Meril's grin slid off of her face. "Must we?"

"Yes, Mer; we must."

"But why?"

"Because your hand isn't healed."

"I've been locked up in there for _two whole days_. I think it's good by now!"

"Now, Meril--are you the nurse?" Fred inquired in a patronizing way.

"No," Meril scowled, doing her best not to laugh.

"That's right. Now come along! Let's get you back inside!"

"Is that feverish girl still in there?" George wondered as he reached out to open the door.

"Yup!"

George's hand dropped with a twitch. "Madam Pomfrey isn't going to...she's not going to make me give that potion to her, is she?"

"No!" Meril laughed. "Or, at least...I don't _think_ she will...."

George paled; Fred snickered.

"Come on, you big baby! Open the door!"

"Yeah!" Meril agreed; two sets of hazel eyes settled upon her.

"I thought you didn't want to go in?" George blinked, confused.

"Yeah! You were just complaining about it!"

"Well, I promised little Ezmie that I would sneak her out," Meril explained in an off-hand way.

"...Ezmie?" they asked simultaneously.

"Esmeralda Jones. She's the little girl in the Hospital Wing with me."

"And is she waiting for you to come sneak her off?"

"No, probably not. She was asleep when I told her. She's always asleep, pretty much."

"Then really, it doesn't matter if you keep you promise or not, does it?"

"Well I suppose not..."

"Exactly. Now come on."

George swung the door open and, together, the Weasley twins carried the Lizlow into the hospital, where the three were immediately bombarded by a worried Madam Pomfrey.

"_What did you two do with her?_" she roared, sweeping down upon them. "I have been worried _sick_ about you, Miss Lizlow! I come out to give you your potion and you're _gone_!! Tell me, what did these two do with you?!"

"We didn't do anything to her!" they shouted, outraged at the accusation.

"Well then where was she?" Madam Pomfrey demanded, wrapping her arm around the tiny fifth-year's shoulder and leading her to her bed.

"We don't know!"

"Yeah! We just went down to get some food from the kitchen because we were hungry and we found Meril down there, pigging out!" George explained, earning a look from Fred; no one was supposed to know they knew how to get into the kitchen. However, Madam Pomfrey was unbothered by this. A look of realization had come onto her face.

"Oh, so that's who was causing the hold up, eh? I should have known." She chuckled slightly.

Apparently, Meril had a bigger reputation for eating than she ever would have guessed.

"So if you two didn't kidnap her--"

"I snuck off, Madam Pomfrey," Meril sighed, saving her the trouble.

"Here, take your potion dear--and don't make any faces!" She thrust the goblet at Meril, studying her face. "Why?"

"Why what?" Meril asked, grimacing as she swallowed.

"Why did you sneak off? Your hand still needs to heal some before you start going off!"

"I hate Hospitals," the brunette replied bluntly. She emptied the goblet and placed it on her bedside table, flopping down on her bed. "And my hand is fine."

The nurse raised her eyebrow. "Oh, is it now?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Yup! I think all that rest did it good."

"Oh, well thanks for your prognosis, doctor! I'll be sure to order that next time someone breaks just about every bone in their hand!" the nurse sarcastically exclaimed. And with that, she disappeared into her office.

Fred and George sat down on either side of the bed, tisk-tisking.

"I thought we already discussed this, Meril," Fred tutted, resting his head beside hers on the pillow. "You are **not** the nurse."

"But my hand _is_ fine!" the girl insisted, raising it into the air. "See?" She wiggled her fingers and grimaced. "Okay, so it's not perfect, but I can live!"

"Yes, and you can live in the Hospital for now, can't you?" George put in, poking his friend in the face.

"No."

The Weasleys sighed and sat back up. Silently they began to dig through her presents, helping themselves to some Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott's. Meril watched them, smiling to herself.

"Save me some of those, will you?" she sarcastically requested as the two stuffed themselves with a bunch of Honeyduke's best.

"Sure thing, Mer," they replied, grinning, their mouths filled with sweets. Meril rolled her eyes and turned away, staring up at the ceiling blankly once again.

"Man, you got some good stuff, Mer!" Fred exclaimed. "I've never gotten so much just for breaking my hand!"

"Fred, youve never broken your hand," George sighed.

"Oh, right. That was you..."

Meril laughed. "Jeez, _you_ guys even get yourselves mixed up, and yet I don't!"

"You must be, like, the All-Knowing God or something," George reasoned, swallowing down a chocolate frog and sitting back down on the edge of the bed.

"Yes, I must be," Meril laughed. Fred sat down on the bed, too, finally abandoning the half-gone candy.

"So...Fred, tell me more about that dream of yours, will you?"

"What dr--OH! Alright! So, I was running around the Great Hall in only my socks, right? For some reason, the tables were all shoved aside and the entire school was lined up against the wall, watching and laughing, you know, which was odd enough as it was, but then a bunch of midgets came dancing in. They had fangs, and they were dancing in a large circle around me--Merlin, there must have been at least twenty of them--and then the all jumped me! One attempted to mug me, but of course I only had my socks and so that didn't work too well. They got all mad and ended up carrying me above their heads out of the Great Hall and taking them to their secret island of midgets located in the middle of the Lake, Then they roasted me and threw me out for the Giant Squid..."

Meril sat there, staring at her friend silently for a moment before finally breaking out into a hysterical fit of laughter. "You...you...Oh, Merlin! Is that why you're so afraid of midgets?"

Fred shrugged. "That might be why. Or maybe I had the dream because I am afraid of them; not quite sure."

Meril glanced towards George, who was laying strangely still. "You don't find it funny George?"

"Well, I did the first fifty times I heard it, but now when I hear it, it just makes me wish it would actually happen."

"Ew. You want Fred to run around stark-naked in the Great Hall?"

Fred grinned in what would be a charming way and winked at Meril. "Doesn't _everybody_?"

Meril giggled and swatted his arm while George looked absolutely horrified. "_No_! Not that part! The getting eaten part."

"Now, George, that's just mean!"

"Yeah, George! How could you wish something like that upon your own brother? Your twin? Your other half?"

George merely shrugged, the corners of his lips twitching into a slight smile.

"So, Georgie, any odd dreams _you_ would like to share with us?"

George appeared to be considering it for a moment before shaking his head. "No."

"Oh, come on George! No dreams? At all? None about any ladies?" Fred's grin was so large is threatened to permanently stretch his face.

Meanwhile, George's face was beat red. He turned away from Meril. "No," he murmured. "None."

"Everyone has odd dreams, Georgie! I remember one time I had this dream where I--" she stopped. "Oh, oh! I see what you mean about not having now! You just don't want to tell us! Yeah, I get that..."

"Oh, now I'm interested Meril! Please, do tell us that dream you had..."

"No, no. It's too embarrassing."

"No dream is too embarrassing to tell us!"

Meril stared blankly at him. "Alright. We'll see about that." She lowered her voice. "So I was--"

"This doesn't involve you being naked, does it?" George asked tiredly.

Meril grinned slyly. "Why? Don't want to have to picture that?"

George's face flamed up. "No, it's not that--"

"So you _do_ want to picture her naked?" Fred inquired, his eyebrows so high they nearly fell off his head.

George's face was redder than his hair. "I didn't say Ithat either. It's just that everyone's embarrassing dreams involves them being naked somewhere."

"I still think he wants to picture you naked," Fred whispered. Meril's face burned as she laughed nervously.

"I know I wouldn't mind," he added thoughtfully, winking at her.

"Oh, ew, gross!" Meril screeched, punching him furiously, completely forgetting--once again--about her hand.

"Oh...did I come in at a bad time?" a meek voice said from the doorway. The three looked up just in time to see Heather disappearing back out into the hall. Meril immediately shot up, dropping her pillow. She crawled over Fred and ran to the door.

"Heather! Wait!" she called after the Hufflepuff. The blonde froze and slowly turned to face Meril. She smiled slightly and took one step forward, then stopped, as if she feared coming any closer.

"Sorry about that there," Meril said nervously, not quite sure what she was sorry about. "Fred and George were just goofing around...with me."

"Yes. I noticed," Heather said lightly. The corners of her mouth twitched upward again in a sort of grimace smile. She stuffed her hand into her robe pocket and started playing with it.

"So...how are things with Cedric?"

"Great! Yeah we're....awesome. Couldn't be happier!" And although Heather seemed completely sincere, her face looked so tired and sad that it was hard for Meril to believe that there was something wrong. Maybe not with their relationship, but with Heather.

"Good," the brunette awkwardly said. She pulled her sleeves over her hands and started shuffling her bare feet.

"So...there was a hold up at lunch. Apparently the house-elves had been distracted by someone. Well, that's the word on the street anyway." The blonde grinned now, some of the usual sparkle returning to her face.

"Yes, I've heard about that! Caused quite a commotion."

"Yes, and, as usual, you were behind it."

"Now whoever told you that?" Meril wondered, smiling innocently.

"Oh, just...a friend." She shrugged and glanced down at her watch. "Right well...I better go."

Without waiting for a response, Heather turned and started to walk away. Meril called her back.

"Why'd you stop by Heath? It couldn't possibly have been just to talk to me about my break-out of the Hospital Wing to go down to the kitchen..."

Heather shrugged slightly, looking uncomfortable. Her arm tensed as she held onto something in her pocket even tighter. "I..." her voice trailed off; she shook her head, smiling sadly.

"I'm so tired of this," Meril heard the blonde mutter, chuckling bitterly and looking at her feet. "So sick..."

"Heather, what?"

"Never mind. I...I'll see you around, Meril! I...I hope that your hand gets better soon. Class isn't the same without you." She ran her hand through her perfect hair and walked off without another glance at her friend. Meril sighed, staring at the spot where the Hufflepuff had stood. Shaking her head, she reached for the door handle and pulled it open, disappearing back into the Hospital Wing where the twins were waiting for her.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"I want to see some more of your presents," George insisted. He pocketed the ball he had been throwing and stared at Meril, who was busy dozing off.

Lazily, the brunette opened her eyes and propped herself up on her elbows. "Like what? You two already ate most of it."

Fred and George grinned identically, their hazel eyes twinkling slyly. Meril rolled her eyes, sighed, and fell back down onto the bed, her hair fanning out around her head.

Fred absent-mindedly began to play with her hair, staring off into space as he did so. George glanced at his brother, frowned ever so slightly, and turned away. Careful not to disturb the resting Meril, he sat up and got off the bed.

Meril's eyes immediately shot open. She rolled over, unconsciously removing herself from Fred and stared up at George with wide blue eyes. "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere!" George, startled, exclaimed. He stared down at the two for a moment before spotting the miniature Quidditch pitch he and Fred had worked so hard on together. As he moved slowly towards it, his brother and his friend watched him, curious.

He held it in his arms as if it were a baby; delicate and loving. Inside, it was still replaying the horrible scene of Meril breaking her hand.

"Do you like seeing what happened or something?" he wondered, taking a seat beside the bed.

Meril snorted rather loudly at this ridiculous inquiry. "Oh, yes. I love to replay that lovely scene! Can't get enough of it!"

"No need to be so sarcastic, love," Fred teased, poking her and sticking out his tongue. "Just a simple question."

"Yes, well, it's also an obvious answer."

"Well then why haven't you changed it?"

Meril stared blankly at him. "I don't know _how_ clearly! None of the creators ever cared enough to explain it to me!"

"Here, I'll show you," George offered, leaning in closer to her. He brandished his wand and pointed it at the pitch's base. "Are you watching."

"Yes."

"To get it to play whatever is going on at the exact moment, you point your wand and say, _Pretenser occupied_. Now, if you want to replay something, you say _Replainse_ and then add the date and time of what you'd like to replay. Those are the basics; it's pretty simple. If there's ever anything else you'd like to do, though, just ask."

"Alright," Meril said, shrinking away from his gaze. She felt her heart rate increase rapidly and a blush crawling across her face. What was wrong with her?! It wasn't the first time he had ever looked at her. But there was just something about those eyes...She glanced quickly upward and her heart almost melted in her chest. His hazel eyes were looking particularly green and were twinkling. The freckles spilled across the bridge of his nose gave him the look of innocence and sweetness such as Meril had never before seen on him. And then his smile... it sent a shudder up her back.

"Are you cold?" both twins wondered at the same time.

"No! No, I'm fine. Just...I felt a chill. But...I'm good."

The brunette turned away from George and instead faced Fred, but it was the same problem there. Both were staring at her curiously, their vibrant red hair cascading over their foreheads.

"There's something I'd like to show you two," she mumbled, merely to escape their stares for a moment. She sprawled out across the bed and began rummaging about underneath it.

"Oh, sweet! I didn't even realize you had anything under there!" George exclaimed. "Fred, we missed out on a good load...!" He bent down and started peering underneath; Fred soon did the same thing on the other side.

"Man, Mer! Who knew so many people liked you!" Fred cried out, positively gleeful. He reached out to grab something but Meril swatted his hand away.

"No. _My_ stuff! Back off, pigs!"

"_Pigs?_" they simultaneously howled, affronted.

"Yes, well, that's what you get for calling me an anorexically fat cow, now isn't it George? Fred?"

They said nothing but withdrew their hands and returned to their posts. Meril, clutching a cardboard box, soon resurfaced.

"Come, come, duckies. This is really cool!"

The twins leaned closer, sandwiching Meril between them much to her pleasure horror. Taking a deep breath and, ignoring her racing heart--_so annoying! This ever used to happen so frequently!_ she screamed inside her head--she opened up the box. Inside was the beautiful silver one, filled with all of its goods. One by one, she removed them all and presented them to her two friends.

"Who the bloody hell gave these to you?!" George wondered, lifting a crystal figurine delicately between his forefinger and thumb. He brought it close to his face and, squinting, examined it.

"Some guy named...hang on!"

She reached across Fred and removed the letter from the side table. "Here; read this, you two," she demanded.

The two redheads leaned in even closer and read the letter. In a matter of only a few moments, the two pulled apart.

"Who's this Adalmund fellow?" they asked, tapping the elegant parchment and eyeing the Lizlow suspiciously.

"I have no clue," she quite honestly replied.

After a moment of thoughtful silent, Fred's head popped up. "I have an idea!" he quite excitedly declared. George and Meril stared at him expectantly.

"Maybe he is this really old guy who your parents arranged for you to marry when you came of age!"

Meril took a deep breath, her face giving the impression that she thought it was likely. Fred awaited praise for his genius, but instead received a blunt, "No."

George chuckled as Fred's face fell; Meril grinned.

"Good...good idea though. My parents aren't for that sort of thing. My mom is all for that 'one true love' garbage." She laughed.

"You don't believe in it?" George asked skeptically, earning him a look from both Meril and Fred. His cheeks tinged pink, but his gaze never left the female's face.

"Well--I'm not sure. I mean...It's just so..._unlikely_ isn't it? I think most people are just going to have to settle for someone they love, even if they aren't 'the one' because, well..." She shrugged, not sure of what else to say.

_Besides,_ she added to herself. _I think I'll **have** to settle. It's hard to believe in only one true love when.._ she glanced discreetly towards the twins and hurriedly looked away.

"I don't know. Maybe," she lamely ended. She fiddled with the parchment, folding it over and over again.

George waited for a moment, still staring at Meril, his eyes piercing her pale skin. "I do," he finally said. Meril's eyes slid upwards and caught with his. He smiled brightly at her and she felt her heart beat and her stomach churn.

"What about you, Freddie?" she wondered, turning quickly to look over at the other twin. He, too, was staring at her, but, unlike George, who had seemed positively sure of himself, Fred was confused.

"I'm not sure either."

"It's a confusing business, I suppose," she sighed, falling back on her bed for what felt like the hundredth time. The boys exchanged looks before replying in that creepy, simultaneous way of theirs:

"Yeah...it is."


	17. Countdown

**Chapter Sixteen—  
**Countdown

* * *

September was out and October was in. Meril had been released from the Hospital Wing--thank _Merlin_--a day after her little outbreak. Her hand was still wrapped up, but was doing much better.

She smiled as she stared out the open window, brushing her long, knotted hair. The air was cool and fresh, carrying a scent that only the coming of autumn could. She could see a hint of red, orange, and gold in the leaves outside; her smile broadened.

She just loved the fall, she wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the smell; maybe it was the colors that brightened up the gray sky; maybe it was that the Quidditch season was starting for real; or maybe...

Meril slipped into her robed and skipped down the spiral staircase, jumping over the last step.

"One month until my birthday!!!" she trilled. Her smile was absolutely huge by now, filling her entire face with bright sunshine.

"Oh, jeez. Already?" Alicia groaned, throwing her head back.

"Here I was thinking you'd outgrown the countdown," Angelina added.

Meril threw her head back and barked out a laugh. "Never! I've been doing the countdown since I could **count**! No way am I stopping now! Besides, it's tradition!"

"Since when?" Lee wondered.

"Since...since I started doing it. You know, like the Twelve days of Christmas! Except you guys don't shower me with gifts for a month beforehand." She paused, pouting. "Hey, why is that?"

"Because we shower you with gifts every time you go to the Hospital Wing instead," Alicia wryly replied, smirking, as Angelina, sighing, said, "It's called Advent, not the Twelve Days of Christmas."

Meril ignored Angelina and considered what Alicia said for a moment before shrugging and nodding her head. "I guess that's fair."

Alicia, Angelina, and Lee all snorted but said nothing more, instead returning to what they had been doing before.

"So...whatcha doing?" she asked, leaning forward. The three glanced up at her and shrugged.

"It's Thursday morning! Come on! Let's go have some breakfast!"

"We already ate," Alicia and Lee mumbled.

"I havent," Angelina replied. She looked down at her half-filled parchment, shrugged, and stuffed it into her bag. "Let's go, Mer!"

Lee immediately jumped to his feet, abandoning his parchment as well. "I'm still hungry, though!"

Alicia sighed dramatically and got up as well. Pointing her wand at her items, she sent them flying into her bag, which she then shouldered.

"You are unbelievable, you know that," she said, giving Lee a withering look. He grinned sheepishly and shrugged.

"So where are the twins?" Meril wondered, readjusting her bag on her shoulder.

"Already down in the Great Hall. They only have two more weeks to work on that...thing, and there's a good deal left to do. Well, according to Jennifer, anyway," Lee answered.

"Ah, I see," the blue-eyed girl curtly replied, refraining from saying anything nasty. Fred's words from that day in the hall still rang inside her head, and she just _couldn't_ say anything about it. It would just be too horrible a thing to do after all she found out about it, how hard they were working, just for **her**.

Meril hooked her arm with Lee and half-dragged him to the Great Hall, her mind filled with thoughts of her upcoming birthday. She was easily the youngest person in the year, which was cool and awful at the same time. She liked to think that her awesome brains and magical powers got her to be accepted into Hogwarts before she reached age eleven (though she really had no clue why), but it also meant that she always got things last. Like, in two years, she would be the last person who would be able to get an Apparation license. Everyone else would be getting theirs in April or over the summer, but she'd have to wait until the fall. There probably wasn't even a test then. She'd have to wait until April, unless a private test could be arranged...

"Hey, Mer...Sit!" Lee ordered, tugging on her arm forcefully. Meril fell down onto the bench, shaking her head to dismiss her thoughts.

"What's going on up there?" Lee playfully inquired, tapping her skull.

"I'm so _young_!" she whined, throwing herself at Dreadlocks.

"Erm...alright? Usually people complain about being old..." He pat her awkwardly on the back, sending all the people who had turned to stare at them looks that said: 'I-don't-know-what's-wrong-with-her-she's-crazy.'

"Meril's _special_; you **must** remember that, Lee," Alicia said, sipping at her pumpkin juice daintily; Meril glared at her.

"I'm going to get everything _so_ much after you guys!" she complained.

"Like what?"

"Like my Apparation License, maybe?"

Angelina and Alicia snorted. "Ha! We're going to get ours _months_ before you!" they bragged, earning them both glares.

"See! I'm getting everything after you guys!"

Lee blinked, staring down at the moping girl who clung to his arm. "But you only mentioned one thing."

"Yes, but it's a very _big_ thing, is it not? I mean, _Apparation_! You guys will be popping up all over the place, while I will be stuck using Floo Powder and...and...and other stuff!"

"Oh, the horrors," Lee yawned. Meril glared and turned away from him, at long last releasing him from her clutches. She served some food onto her plate.

"Are these seats taken?" someone wondered; the question was clearly directed at Meril, but she did not look up from her plate. She recognized that voice; that _loathsome_ voice.

"No, they aren't taken," Angelina answered from across the table. "Go ahead; sit down." Meril's jaw clenched. She stared at Angelina, who merely shrugged and continued eating.

"Hey, Harry!" Lee greeted, leaning behind Meril. There was a grin on his face as he waved. Harry smiled back before returning to his meal. His elbow kept knocking against Meril, causing her insides to boil and her body to tense.

She wasn't exactly sure what made her loathe Harry Potter so much. Being a Gryffindor, she was supposed to worship the ground he walked on; she was supposed to love him so much she would do anything short of die for him. He was _supposed_ to be the reason she got out of bed in the morning; the reason she **breathed**. And yet...

It was probably part of the reason why she hated him so much, actually. Everyone else was always fawning over him, telling him he was _so_ great; **so** amazing. He got everything; attention, glory, points; _her friends_. She had known the Weasleys and **everyone else** longer, and yet sometimes, she got the impression they all liked him more. Maybe it was just paranoia, but Meril still felt it. Like one time, she overheard them talking about how much Mrs. Weasley loved him; how he was practically a seventh son. She hated to feel envious--especially about something as trivial as that--but it used to be _her_ that Mrs. Weasley loved so terribly; who she thought of as an eight child; her second daughter. And then there was Hagrid. Harry, Ron, and that bushy-haired girl were always down there having tea; that used be her, before she got sent away and then came back, her arms instantly filled with piles of homework. Maybe it didn't matter in the long run, but it made Meril feel insignificant; replaceable.

But it wasn't just jealousy--there was something about his character that just got on her nerves. He seemed rather obnoxious and arrogant. He liked to play the hero, she noticed, especially from the stories she had heard of her two-year absence from Hogwarts. And he had a short fuse (just like she did). And maybe he had a reason to (unlike Meril), but it still got on Meril's nerves.

Maybe he _was_ a nice guy, but Meril's vision only went **so** far. She tried, she really did, to see the good in this God-like-child, but the negatives and her jealousy just kept springing up in front of her.

"It isn't jealousy," she accidentally murmured out loud, stuffing some scrambled eggs into her mouth.

"Excuse me?"

Meril's body tensed. She quickly swallowed her eggs and, mechanically, turned towards the third year. She forced a smile onto her face. "Nothing," she beamed, her voice unusually high. "Just thinking out loud. Continue!" She then turned back to her meal, rolling her eyes.

However, the Golden Trio seemed to be against her finishing her meal. "Good morning Meril!" Ron greeted; she turned again, a real smile upon her face this time. "Where are Fred and George."

Meril sighed and jerked her head towards the Hufflepuff table. "They're..._discussing_ something with that **horrid** Jennifer girl."

"Oh, alright..." Ron replied awkwardly. A small smile flickered across his face as Meril stared curiously at him. He turned back to his empty plate and Meril did the same.

She took a deep breath and lifted her fork to her mouth, only to quickly drop it. An idea had just come to her. She smiled slyly and turned back to face Ron, ignoring the fact that Harry sat between them.

"Hey, Ronnie? I mean Ron!"

His ears turned scarlet and a scowl was on his face as he turned towards Meril; obviously he didn't like his old nickname too much.

"You wouldn't happen to know _what exactly_ is on that piece of parchment Fred and George are always leaning over, would you?"

"Meril, I'm right here," the brunette heard Lee sigh from her other side.

Meril waved her hand at him dismissively, whacking him in the face; he grunted before continuing his protests, which Meril ignored.

"Well? Do you know?"

"_Meril_! Really, there's a **reason** Fred and George don't want you to know!!"

"Come on Ron-Ron; I mean Ronnie! ARGH! _RON_!"

Hold habits die hard, which is terrible inconvenient considering it would probably be harder to get stuff out of him using his old nicknames.

However, Meril found this to be untrue. His face flaming red, Ron opened his mouth.

"Yes, I do."

"_Ron_!" Lee, Alicia, and Angelina shrieked, and Meril was sure that the glares they sent at him were shared with her.

"_And_?" the brunette pushed. She was tempted to lean forward but she was still mildly aware of the fact that Harry Potter sat between her and the young Weasley; she didn't want to have to get closer to him than she had to.

"Meril, I really don't think that I should be--"

Meril interrupted him with a sigh. She fell back in her seat and moved back towards her food. "You probably don't know any more than I do, anyway. Alright. Thanks anyway R--"

"Hey!" the thirteen-year-old burst, outraged by her assumption of her ignorance. "I bet I know _loads_ more than you do!"

Perfect. That was **exactly** how she wanted him to react. She knew him so well.

"Oh? Then tell me?" She forced herself to look only mildly interested as she turned towards him, as if she was humoring him. "Go ahead."

And he was about to; he really was. However, at that _precise_ moment, Fred and George came sauntering over, seeming rather pleased with themselves. However, when they saw Meril staring avidly at their younger brother, who sat with his mouth wide open, about to speak, their grins instantaneously fell.

"Ronnie, shut up," Fred ordered, staring hard at the side of the boy's face. Ron scowled, his face crimson. He gave Meril an apologetic look and then moved back to his food.

Meril smiled innocently at the twins, waved, and returned to her near-finished meal as well, but she could tell that they weren't buying the act.

"Mer-il," George began. He spoke as if he was a mother scolding their child.

The brunette looked over her shoulder at him, her blue eyes feigning boredom, when really her heart was pounding as their eyes locked, and she felt like laughing at the expression on his freckled face.

"Yes, Mam?" She smirked

"What were you discussing with my brother?"

"Just now?"

"Yes."

"While you were over there?"

"Yes."

"At the Hufflepuff table?"

"Yes, Meril."

"Leaning over that parchment?"

"Meril, I thought we discussed that you weren't going to--"

"I'm _not_! I'm just trying to figure out the precise moment you mean." She grinned cheekily, her face glowing.

George sighed. "_Yes_. Then. Now as to what you were discussing."

"Oh, nothing. I was just asking him some things."

Fred and George exchanged suspicious glances, their eyebrows raised into their hair.

"Like what?" Fred piped up, his hazel eyes flickering back and forth between his brother and his friend.

"Oh, nothing. Just things like whether he knew how long until my birthday..." her voice trailed off and she gave the younger Weasley a meaningful look.

"And how long **is it** until her birthday, Ron?" Fred inquired; he and his twin were still very suspicious of Meril's story.

Meril readied herself to help him, but he didn't need it.

"One month," he replied automatically.

Meril was as shocked as everyone else. As far as she knew, he hadn't been in the Common Room or anywhere _near_ hearing distance to hear her singing it, so how...?

"Is that all you two discussed?"

"Oh ye--" Ron and Meril began in unison (Ron's face glowing red, Meril's twitching at the lie), only to be cut off.

"No; no that's not what they were discussing at all," Hermione cut in matter-o-factly. "They were talking about that bloody parchment you two won't go anywhere without."

Ron stared at her angrily, but it was nothing compared to Meril's withering look.

"Well, it's the truth!" the bushy-haired girl said defensively.

"_Thank you_, Hermione," Fred and George graciously said, speaking in that creepy twin-way of theirs.

"I never thought I'd be thanking her for her nosy honesty," George said, awed with himself.

"_I_ never thought I'd even be grateful for it, never mind actually thanking her!" Fred added; George nodded in agreement.

Hermione's face glowed pink and she turned away. Meril eyed her loathingly. Never before had she hated the girl--or really felt _anything_ towards her, but that was just...just...

Well, actually, it was nothing worse than what she did to Fred and George. They had trusted her to leave the matter alone, and yet there she was, going behind their backs, trying to find out more. But she had **trusted** everyone around her not to tell them; she had assumed that everyone would follow that unspoken request. Meril's friends had, despite their cries for Meril to stop, they had said _nothing_. And yet, this girl had. It really was no worse than what Meril had done, but she simply had not been expecting it. Surely Fred and George suspected Meril would eventually try to find out **something**, right?

She supposed they had, otherwise they wouldn't have found it so questionable that she would simply be having a conversation with their brother.

And even though Meril suspected that they would, and thought they _should_ think she would try to weasel the information out of someone, it still hurt her that they actually did.

"Meril, we already told you that we _can't_ tell you anything!" George said wearily.

"And we thought you agreed to it!" Fred added, sounding just as tired.

"I did," Meril muttered, averting her gaze.

"Then why did you try to force Ron to tell you?"

"I...I..." Meril stuttered, her face burning hot. Why _did_ she try again? Maybe it was because she was still used to trying to figure these things out, maybe she was just too curious, maybe she was still terribly jealous that they weren't hanging out with her, or perhaps....perhaps she was simply a dirty, stinking liar you simply _cannot_ trust.

She sincerely hoped it wasn't the last one.

"You know," Hermione began heatedly, "she _probably_ wouldn't feel the **need** to sneak and pry if you would just **_tell her_** something!"

Meril suddenly felt a wave of warmth towards the girls wash over her. She didn't know why Hermione did it--maybe it was to redeem herself in Meril's eyes, maybe she felt bad for Meril, maybe she thought it would be right for the twins to say something, or maybe that was just how she was--but Meril didn't care. She smiled appreciatively at the third year.

"Hermione, I'm sure you know all about the parchment and why it's so important that she knows _as-little-as-possible_," George said through gritted teeth.

"Yes, well, you should still tell her _something_," Hermione persisted, though a bit weakly.

"We **have** told her things," Fred put in exasperatedly. "Accidentally, but still!"

"Oh. Well..." Hermione's voice trailed off. She stared at the older boys for a moment before quickly looking away, dropping the subject.

Meril heaved a sigh and got to her feet; she stared down at her plate. She really wasn't hungry any more.

"I'm sorry, guys," she whispered hoarsely. And with that, she shouldered her bag and headed off, hoping she wasn't too early for class.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The doors were locked; typical. Meril slid down against the wall and waited for her first period class to begin. She hoped Fred and George weren't too disappointed with her; she _hated_ when she disappointed them. And when she angered them. And also when she annoyed them. She was always afraid that they would end up hating her; that was her greatest fear, right behind moths.

"You alright?" a startled voice asked; Meril glanced up and found Heather standing over her, an awkward--yet concerned--smile on her face. As usual, she was flawless. Her blonde hair was curled and clipped back away from her face which, as usual, was perfect. She knew exactly how to wear her makeup; exactly how much to use.

But wait...

Meril blinked; she must have been seeing things. There were faint purple rings under Heather's pale blue-gray eyes; that was something that was never there. Obviously, her cover-up had failed her for the first time in her life.

"Yeah...I'm fine," Meril answered slowly. After a moment's hesitation, she gave an unsure nod.

"Okay, good." Heather's smile was small and unsure, yet comforting nonetheless.

"Are you alright?"

The question was sudden, and Meril wouldn't have even known it was her asking if she and Heather hadn't been the only two in the corridor.

"Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine...." She stifled a yawn. "Just haven't been getting enough sleep, I guess. So much homework! They weren't kidding when they said fifth year was hard!" She laughed; Meril furrowed her brows.

"Who's 'they?' I never heard it before! I could have done with some warning!" She pouted.

"Just about everyone," Heather laughed. "Bradley, most. He just complained about it _so_ much. He still does!" She paused, caught up in thoughts of her fun older brother. "Yes...Well...didn't you listen to any of the teachers talking about O.W.L.S. in the beginning of September?"

Meril shrugged. "Somewhat."

The blonde cracked a smile. "Well, they'll be talking about it a lot more, I'm sure."

"Oh, joy."

The sarcasm was evident in the brunette's voice; Heather giggled.

"Right, well...I better be off! Class and all..."

"Yes, yes...I'll see you later!"

"Bye Meril!"

Heather wiggled her fingers at Meril in the old, familiar way, winked, and ran off. Hope swelled up inside of the tiny fifth-year. Was that things being patched up between them? She sure hoped it was. It had been far too long since the two had spoken, _really_ spoken, and Meril had way too much to tell her! Her small body could only hold so much! Her mind was close to bursting as she thought of all the things--important and only little details--that had happened since the beginning of their little spat; it all came rushing to her and she was dying to let it out, screaming, just so she wouldn't have to hold it in anymore. But she knew that she couldn't do that; these were things that she _had_ to share with Heather. No one **ever** understood like Heather did.

Her fellow classmates started to spill into the corridor. She jumped to her feet and wiped down her long black robes, sure that she had collected some dust since she first sat down.

Angelina and Alicia spotted her standing alone and rushed over, linking arms on either side of her.

"So sorry about before," Alicia whispered, resting her head on Meril's shoulder so her dark brown hair spilled over her apologetic face.

"Yeah. It's just..." Angelina stared hard at Meril, her brown eyes boring into the shorter girl's blue ones. "Well, you really shouldn't have been asking."

"I know," Meril pouted, her shoulders slumping forward, causing Alicia's head to jerk forward as well. "Whoops! Sorry Aly!"

"'S alright," Alicia muttered, repositioning herself.

"You told me already what happened that day at the Hospital Wing. You _know_ how much it means to them that they do this and that it's a **surp-rise**. I know you do! So why is it so hard to just leave it be?"

Fidgeting uncomfortably (Alicia grunted and removed her head from Meril's shoulder, settling for simply linking their arms), Meril whispered a response, "I just...I don't like being left out of things. Especially things involving the twins."

"They aren't the _only_ ones who know, though!"

Meril stared blankly at the black girl. "That doesn't help what-so-ever!"

Angelina shrugged. "Sorry. Not everything will, but it's the truth."

That was one of the things Meril liked so much about Angelina, but also one of the things that made it uncomfortable to be around her; _she always spoke her mind_. It made things a whole lot easier but, again, also awkward because she didn't spare your feelings. If she thought you were doing something wrong, or if you were annoying her or _anything_ she would tell you, and it's too bad if it hurts your feelings! That was just the type of person she was. Meril respected her for her brutal honesty. It sometimes seemed mean--especially when directed at her--but also, it made people stronger and, if they listened to her, better.

Meril smiled slightly at Angelina, who cocked her eyebrow back at her. The three walked into their History of Magic class, still linked together. The tiny fifth-year beamed at her two friends.

"You _are_ an odd one, Meril."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Each day for the next week started out with Meril counting off how many days until her birthday. Almost all of Gryffindor could now count with her, knowing almost better than she how long they had left to wait.

"Aw, crap! Hide me! She's probably going to start counting at me!" Meril heard one fourth-year boy whisper panickedly at his Ravenclaw friend as she passed. Just for that, a maniacal grin on her face, Meril began to sing in a terribly off-key sort of way.

"_To-day istheEIGHTH of Octoooooooober! Only twenty**three** days left 'till thefirstof Noveeeeeeeeember! There'll be..."--She took a deep breath, still following the boy trying to scamper away--"presents and letters and _cheers_! Hopefully I'll have a few butter_beers_! Fifteen I'll be **turn-in'** and soon I'll be **learn-in'** what it means to haveagood tiiiiiiime!_" She spread her arms out wide, allowing her voice to reach Opera levels. People had stopped to stare at the crazy girl serenading the fourth year, who looked as if he was about to wet himself. His face was frozen, his eyes wide in terror, his mouth dangling open. Meril took a deep breath as if to continue, but as she did so, something stopped her; something called Oliver.

"Erm...did I come at a bad time?" he wondered, his Scottish accent torn between being scared and amused.

Meril's arms dropped. She turned to face the Keeper, giving the fourth year ample opportunity to run, though he seemed unsure what to do at first. Her smile changed from manic to pleased in the matter of a few seconds.

"Ollie! Hey! Sorry about that, I was just...."

"Scaring some poor fourth year."

Meril nodded vigorously. "Yeah, that!"

"It certainly was interesting," Oliver chuckled; Meril blushed and grinned sheepishly.

"Thanks I think?"

"No problem. So, you really like your birthday, huh?"

"Yes, I do! But more than that, it's the tradition! I've been counting down to it since I could! It was how my dad taught me to really know my numbers! We used to start from December first--a month later--and count all the way down to the day of, but then someone threatened to kill us if we continued, and they seemed pretty serious, so we cut it down to just a month before." Meril chuckled nostalgically. She missed those days; they sure had been fun.

"Oh. And do you and your father still do that together? I mean, I know _you_ do it, but..." He stopped at the look on Meril's face, or really the lack there of. Her face had become extremely blank, her eyes losing their usual gleam.

"My dad is dead; he has been since I was very young," she said monotonously, staring straight into the older boy's eyes without blinking.

Oliver Wood grimaced. "Oh. I'm so sor--"

"It's okay," Meril cut him off, holding up a hand to silence him. "You didn't know. Most people don't. It's alright."

"Err..."

"So, was there something you needed? I'm starved! I was just on my way to lunch!"

The transition from hyper, cheerful girl to blank, emotionless girl, and back again was so quick and unexpected that Oliver was afraid he missed something and almost positive that this time, her hyper-ness wasn't quite as real as before. He stared at the slightly younger girl cautiously, as if afraid he would set her off if he made even the slightest movement.

"Err...actually, yes! I'm holding a Quidditch meeting this evening, if you would like to come? I'd love to have you there!"

Meril observed his careful smile before nodding. "Yes, I'd love to!" she squealed, locking arms with him. She didn't want to scare him, but also she needed to convince him that she was fine, that she was still the cheerful girl he had witnessed singing. She didn't want him--or _anyone_ else--to know how upset she still was about her father's death. Yet again, she was thankful that no one had witnessed her crying jag the dementors had caused the day she escaped from the Hospital Wing. That was her little secret, one that she wouldn't even tell _Heather_ when the chance arose (which it still hadn't; that day in the hall a week ago had been progress, but the friendship had not yet been mended).

"Let's go to lunch, shall we?"

Oliver hesitantly nodded his head, still not sure about Meril's sudden mood swing. She beamed up at him, her arm still locked tight with his, and dragged him off with her.

"Fred and George are probably already in there with that Jennifer girl, so you can tell them about Quidditch if you haven't already! You know, they only have a week left until they have to be done with whatever that piece of parchment is, did you know?" She stopped suddenly and eyed him suspiciously. "You know what's on that parchment, don't you?"

"Yes, but I can't say."

'Oh, I didn't expect you to. _No one_ wants to say, apparently. Honestly, it's as if Fred and George has threatened everyone who knows about it--which is a surprising amount of people, really. If they wanted everything to be hush-hush, then why would they go around telling everyone?"

"They didn't. That Jennifer girl yammers about it all the time; she likes to brag about what she does, see. And well...many people have overheard her, it seems...talking about it."

"Oh. Well." Meril seemed to be at a loss for words. She stared determinedly ahead, concentrating on making it to the doors to the Great Hall before her blush made it all over her face. She liked the way Oliver pronounced his words. His accent was so thick and...and, well, she was embarrassed to say it, but _sexy_.

Her blush deepened. Instead of releasing the seventh-year she clung onto him tighter, which he had no objections to.

"Here we go!" Meril Lizlow pulled the door open wide and she and Oliver entered together. As they walked towards the Gryffindor together, Meril felt three sets of hostile eyes upon them.

She looked around and saw no one watching them, though Amy Smith did look away rather quickly when Meril stirred. Maybe _she_ alone had been watching them, though it was possible Meril just felt paranoid. After all, she did feel guilty about clinging onto Oliver and of the blush she got from simply listening to his voice. She felt as if she was betraying _them_; she felt as if she was betraying her emotions.

"Come on, Ollie!" she said a bit shrilly, sitting him down besides her. "Only twenty-two more days until the Halloween feast and twenty-_three_ until my birthday!"

_And eight until I can eat with Fred and George again without any interruptions from that horrid Hufflepuff._

"Can't wait!"


	18. The First Warning

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen—  
**The First Warning

* * *

"Are we even going to have time to eat before this _meeting_?" Fred grumbled as they headed out of their final lesson for the day. George shrugged.

"I hope so. I'm starved! Jennifer wouldn't let me eat _anything_ at lunch. She said it was 'interfering with my concentration.' Psh! I'm going to show _her_ what's 'interfering with my concentration,' if you catch my drift!"

Fred and Meril stood, blinking at him silently.

"Okay, I guess you don't," George sighed.

"You guess correctly, young gentleman," Fred replied, bowing. Meril stifled a snort with her fist.

"We'll just grab a sandwich beforehand and go to the pitch. Then we'll eat more if there's anything left when we get back," she suggested reasonably.

"Or we could just stuff our faces and hope we aren't late to the meeting," George also pitched, rubbing his growling stomach.

"Or not care whether we're late or not," Fred added.

"I like that idea," George exclaimed, nodding vigorously. Meril frowned a bit.

"Oliver will probably get upset if we're late."

"Well then you can go ahead with out eating and we'll meet you there," Fred replied nonchalantly.

Meril frowned as her stomach gurgled in protest to the idea; Fred and George smirked.

"_Exactly_," they answered in unison.

"Fine. But can we at least hurry our eating. Oliver getting mad at us won't be helping anything."

"It won't make anything terribly worse, either," Fred reasoned.

George grinned, his eyes glinting mischievously. Meril stared at him for a moment, entranced by the way his face lay; he was so..._cute_. It made her heart flip and her stomach churn; she quickly looked away.

"After all, we're the ones with the bats," the boy joked, causing his twin's face to mimic his.

Meril's face paled. "Please, don't beat him with a bat. That's just..." She couldn't think of any words to describe how horrible of them that would be, and even if she could, there would be no way to get them out. A giggle had formed in her throat and burst out her mouth, enveloping her in a blanket of hysterical laughter. She keeled over, her books falling out of her bag and spilling all over the floor. Her ink crashed and splashed, and she just couldn't stop laughing.

"Meril's gone mad," Fred sighed, bending down to help her pick up the books.

"I've been fearing this day for quite a while now," George groaned. He grabbed the giggling female's shoulders and straightened her up. "Stand still, alright? Um...You!" He pointed at Meril's victim from earlier that day--the fourth year Gryffindor boy. He stopped dead in his tracks, the smile he had been wearing falling from his face as soon as he spotted Meril, who was, once again, acting like a lunatic.

"Help Fred clean up that mess!" George ordered; the fourth year eyed Meril warily.

"Is she going to attack me again?" he squeaked; Fred looked up at the boy and he and his twin cocked a brow.

"_Attack_ you?" they repeated disbelievingly; the nameless boy nodded.

"Right before she lunch, she...she...she _sang_ at me! It was terrible! I thought my ears were going to **bleed**!"

The Weasley twins snorted; Meril's laughter increased.

"Y-your face was _priceless_!" she hiccupped, pointing at him, teary eyed. "I've never seen anyone s-so terrified in my l-life!"

She didn't even think of being offended by this. To her, it was just _funny_. Everything was just hysterical.

"Do you think someone got her with a cheering charm?" Fred wondered; the books he held limply dropped from his hands and back onto the floor.

George shrugged. "I don't think so...Hey, um...kid? Could you...pick those up?" He pointed at the books, not even sparing a glance for the kid. "I'll give you something later as payment."

"Okay!"

"Great. Mer, stand still. _Mer_!" George sighed exasperatedly. "I'm hungry and you aren't cooperating! Fred, hold her!"

The twin obeyed, locking his arms around her to hold her steady. That was enough to calm Meril down. She felt nauseous, suddenly, but in a good sort of way. Her giggles calmed to nothing more than occasional laugh, and George stared hard, racking his brains for the spell.

"Ah, yes! _Deletrius_!"

Meril blinked and looked down at her shirt. The picture of a smiley face that had been pinned onto the front of her robes was gone, leaving nothing but a white circle in its place. "Did you mean to do that? Did that picture offend you in some way, George? Because I would have just taken it off."

George scowled, a blush tingeing his face. "No."

"I'll get rid of the ink later, since I'm assuming that was what you were trying to do. Let's just go now, alright? Your stomach is growling at me again. Vicious little thing." Fred released her and she poked the other Weasley's stomach. He recoiled, his face burning brighter, and Meril smiled up at him.

"Thanks for taking care of that," she said to the fourth year that held the stack of her books up. She waved her wand and sent them into her bag.

"Only twenty-three days left!" she chirped; the boy twitched noticeably and ran off. Meril grinned, snickering.

"Oh, you have no idea how much fun that is. Come on, let's go!"

She forced herself in between the twins and linked her arms with theirs. They towered above her noticeably; her head barely brushed their shoulders. She had never before paid much attention to her height--or lack thereof--as she did her weight and build (because she was constantly reminded of those two things, not her height) but she was beginning to notice that everyone was taller than her. Burly Oliver Wood, stocky Fred and George, willowy Angelina Johnson (well, that was no surprise; she had always been tall), Alicia and Lee, both whom were rather short themselves, Heather, and even Ron Weasley, who was _two years_ her junior, were all taller than her! She felt like a midget and wondered briefly why Fred wasn't scared of her.

"Erm...Meril? The Great Hall is _this_ way! Stop dragging me away from the food! George gets to eat it!"

Meril blinked and realized that they were already at the Great Hall (much thanks to Fred's whining). George had broken free of her grip and had run towards the food, though Fred remained most reluctantly attached to her.

"Food? Please?"

"Yes...Of course...Sorry," Meril said distantly, her eyes glazed over. She blinked hard and shook her head, snapping back to reality.

"Fred, do you think I'm short?"

The red-head stopped, just inches away from the door, and sighed. "What?"

"Do you think I'm short?" she repeated patiently.

"Yup. You're a very small person all around. Well, except for your mouth, I suppose," he mused, smiling slightly.

Meril frowned. "Thanks."

"Not a problem! Now let's eat?"

"Yeah, yeah...sure..." She held her flat-stomach and followed her friend into the Great Hall, where George could already be found by Lee, stuffing himself most barbarically.

"Wow, you weren't fooling around when you said you were hungry," Meril joked, sliding in between Angelina and Alicia across the table from George; they both looked absolutely disgusted and refused to watch him.

"You're really...scarfing that food down, eh buddy?"

George looked up and smirked at Meril. "You eat like this like...everyday, so you can't say anything!"

Meril's jaw dropped and her eyes narrowed. "I do _not_ eat like that!" she shrieked, her voice oddly high-pitched.

All of her friends stared at her expectantly, smirks on every single one of their faces.

"Yeah, Mer, you do," Alicia said matter-o-factly. The blue-eyed girl looked down at her plate and as she went to take a bite felt like everyone was watching. She pushed the plate away and began to nibble on a biscuit.

"Now you made her self-conscious! Good going guys! She won't eat anything now." Lee frowned around at everyone, of course skipping over himself, who had also told her that she ate like a pig.

"We were just joking, Meril! You don't eat like that everyday!" Alicia quickly said, shoving the plate towards her; Fred gave her a stern looking quite plainly saying she should eat; George even stopped feasting for a moment to get a forkful or pork and stuff it in her mouth.

Angelina, however, did none of this. She ate her meal quickly yet with dignity and wiped her mouth as she finished. Then, clearing her throat, she stared Meril straight in the eye. The shrimpy girl swallowed the pork and stared back, knowing what was coming--what Angelina really thought on the subject.

"Meril, sweetie--you eat like a pig. And that isn't a bad thing, really, it isn't. You eat a lot, and you eat quickly, but you don't look like a slob and no one really watches you when you do it. Plus, you're really skinny and never gain weight, so you should really take advantage of that fact and eat as much stuff as you can without feeling like you will barf."

Meril nodded slowly; that was probably one of the only tI'mes that Meril actually felt a whole lot better after listening to Angelina's mind. She reached for her fork--her friend's watching in anticipation--and ate, filling herself as quickly as she could with the knowledge that she had to go soon. The six of them were soon talking about everything from teachers and lessons to classmates and gossip. Fred, George, and Lee seemed relatively uninterested with the latest "What's what" that Angelina and Alicia were so avidly discussing, but Meril found herself listening intently, and shushing the boys along with the two chasers when they made jokes about things.

"Jeez, Meril. Since when are you into gossip?" Lee wondered after once-again being told to shut up.

"I'm not! It's just..." Meril paused and shrugged, not really sure why she was listening.

"And Heather and Cedric are still the "it" couple, just as they've been since they started going out," Alicia informed anyone who was listening. Meril froze at the mention of Heather's name; her fork dropped from her hand, but she didn't notice.

"They're an "it' couple, are they?" she wondered, trying to keep her tone indifferent.

"Not 'an', Meril, _the_," Alicia corrected. She took a sip of pumpkin juice to moisten her dry throat; there certainly was a lot going on, it seemed.

"Yes; Heather said they were very happy together," Meril informed Alicia, ignoring the knowing looks Angelina was giving her.

"They definitely _look_ it. I mean, they're always holding hands and talking and laughing. When she's with Cedric, you can't even see the tired look on her face! And about that, does anyone have any idea what's going on with her? I mean, she usually looks completely perfect, but now she has these purple rings under her eyes and she just looks so...empty. Except when she's around Cedric! He just lights her up!"

Angelina moved her gaze from Meril, whose face was covered in despair, to Alicia, her eyes harsh. "Let's not talk about Heather, alright?"

"What why not?! I know you don't like her but--oh." Alicia cleared her throat and quickly finished up her meal, her brown eyes darting back and forth between her plate and Meril, who just sat there like a lump.

"It's almost time for the meeting," she said; her voice was hollow. "I'll see you guys there!"

She was vaguely aware of her feet moving as she walked across the Great Hall. Her mind was jumping, her chest aching. She hadn't realized that simply talking about Heather upset her so much. Once again, she was angry with herself for letting her stupid pride cause the rift between them. It was such a stupid reason to get in a fight; _so stupid_. And if she wasn't so stubborn, she would run up to Heather and apologize for her behavior, but she couldn't. As much as it pained her that they were barely speaking, she couldn't.

But why didn't Heather say anything, she also had to wonder? It wasn't as if they never saw each other. In fact, Heather had stopped by to see and speak to Meril several times, yet no words of apology were uttered from either party's mouth. Each was stubborn, and that was why the rip in their friendship hadn't been repaired yet. Sometimes it seemed as if it had, and then neither spoke to the other again for quite a while, whereas they used to speak all the time.

"Uh...Meril? That's a wall."

Meril's head snapped up to attention. She found herself facing a wall in the dressing room, her face just inches from it. She blinked a few tI'mes before turning around; there was Oliver--again. He held a poster board in his hands and was watching the small brunette curiously.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing?"

Meril felt all of her sadness ebb away as she listened to Oliver's thick accent. Every word he uttered was a beautiful song; she was falling in love with his voice, it seemed. It was addicting. She just wanted to hear him talk again.

"Oh, nothing. I just decided to head over. Fred, George, Alicia, and Angelina were eating when I left them; I don't know about Katie and Harry. They should be over soon, I suspect."

"Oh. Alright."

He began to set up, and Meril watched him. She noticed that she rather enjoyed watching him; in fact, she liked it almost as much as she liked listening to him. He moved...differently. He had a strong and sturdy build, and moved as such a person would, but with a touch more grace than any other person would. What was more, he was energetic; he couldn't sit still, but he wasn't fidgeting. It was more like...like he was....floating maybe? Meril couldn't really describe it. There were no words for it; it was simply what it was.

Meril looked away as soon as she noticed the Quidditch team spilling into the changing area. She got up off the bench and moved to the back of the room, giving a place for the people who were _supposed_ to be there to sit.

"Okay, I might as well get right to the point," Oliver began after everyone had been accounted for. "I know that we've been practicing on and off for about a month now, but..." The seventeen-year old took a breath and stared at each member of the team individually, his gaze hard and determined.

"This is our last chance--_my_ last chance--to win the Quidditch Cup," he told them; he was moving (**always** moving), walking back and forth in front of his team. Listening to him, Meril noticed a quiet hopelessness in his voice; he was pleading with them, his teammates, to help him in his goal. "I'll be leaving at the end up this year. I'll never get another shot at it," he continued.

"Gryffindor hasn't won for seven years now. Okay, so we've had the worst luck in the world--injuries--then the tournament getting called off last year...." The way Oliver Wood stood there, oddly still, and swallowed demonstrated to Meril--and probably the team as well--just how horrible this was to him, as if it brought a lump to his throat just thinking about it. Swallowing again he carried on as if he hadn't even stopped. "But we also know that we've got the _best--ruddy--team--in--the--school_." Here, he punched his fist into his other hand, the usual manic glint coming back to his eyes, replacing the desperate pleading that had been there just before.

"We've got three _superb_ Chasers."

Wood pointed at Alicia, Angelina, and Katie, all of whom smiled proudly back at him.

"We've got two _unbeatable_ Beaters."

"Stop it, Oliver, you're embarrassing us," said Fred and George together, pretending to blush. Meril snorted and stuffed her fist in her mouth, determined not to interrupt Oliver's speech with her laughter and refusing to be reminded of that time at the lake with the twins, just that past September, where they had acted similarly.

"And we've got a Seeker who has _never failed to win us a match_!" Wood roared, staring at Harry with a sort of furious pride. Meril's stomach dropped, as did her fist. A familiar kind of jealousy and hatred filled her as she stared at the back of Harry Potter's head, his jet-black hair messy as usual. She sighed deeply and pushed all thoughts from her mind. No, she _knew_ that bloody Harry Potter was better than she had been. She would **not** succumb to her ill feelings towards him. Not then, not ever!

"And me," Oliver added as an afterthought, bringing Meril completely back to the real world.

"We think you're very good, too," George said quickly; sincerely.

"Spanking good Keeper," Fred added.

A murmur of agreement went around the room, and Meril participated in it. He really was an outstanding Keeper.

"The point is," Oliver continued, putting an end to the murmuring and resuming his pacing, "the Quidditch Cup should have had out name on it these last two years. Ever since Harry joined the team, I've thought the thing was in the bag. But we haven't got it, and this year's the last chance we'll get to finally see our name on the thing..."

Even Fred and George looked sympathetic as they listened to their Captain speak; he sounded so disconsolate and, for a moment, he _looked_ it, too.

"Oliver, this year's our year," said Fred with a wild determination in his voice; beside him, George nodded vigorously.

"We'll do it, Oliver!" Angelina exclaimed, speaking for the first time that meeting.

"Definitely."

After the emphatic responses from the other three, Harry's seemed a bit lame, but Meril had to give him points for saying/doing _something_, whereas Alicia and Katie sat sort of just staring at their Captain, nodding slightly in response.

Oliver smiled at them and nodded before moving on to the "game plan" as he liked to call it, pulling over the tactics board. Meril was under the impression that he was going to run this drill until it was hammered into their minds; he wanted it memorized.

Meril moved forward, slipping onto the edge of the bench beside Katie. The fourth year glanced at her, startled by her presence, and gave a quick smile of acknowledgement before looking back at the board.

For once, Oliver had their full attention, despite the fact that he had shown the plan to them all on several other occasions. They were inspired by his speech and determined now to do what they hadn't done since Charlie Weasley left the school--win the Quidditch Cup and finally bring Gryffindor the glory it deserved.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

They did no actual training that night, just planning. Although slightly bored with it, the team left in high spirits.

"You coming?" Fred inquired, peeking back into the locker rooms. Meril still sat on the bench, staring at the plan that Oliver had put together.

"What? No...I'm going to help Oliver...clean up."

"Clean up? There's nothing here," George put-in, reappearing on the scene.

Fred shook his head and whispered something in his twin's ear. A frown immediately appeared on George's face and he stared at Meril as if she was a stranger.

"Well, come along George!" Fred exclaimed. He grabbed his twin by the arm, winked at Meril suggestively, and walked off into the dimly lit grounds, heading back to the castle.

Meril cocked a brow after them and almost shouted a question, but decided against it.

"Once again, the plan is brilliant. You really know your stuff, Ollie," she said, getting to her feet. Oliver looked up and smiled at her.

"You don't have to stay, you know," he said. "It's only the poster."

Meril shrugged. "I thought you could use the company."

It was Oliver's turn to shrug this time. "It's really alright. I--"

Meril cut him off, placing her hand on his mouth. "I'm here, okay? Let's just...clean anything that needs to be cleaned up, up, and then head back to the castle, alright?"

Staring directly into her eyes, Oliver nodded. Meril slowly smiled, removed her hand from the older boy's mouth, and began tidying up. There really was nothing to do, and the two just sat there for a few minutes together, silent. It wasn't awkward, nor was it completely comfortable either. It was more...unsure.

The two kept glancing at each other, and their eyes would meet; one would open their mouth but no words would come out (usually Oliver) and the other would start laughing (usually Meril). At long last, the two left the locker rooms and headed back to the castle. The sun had almost completely set by now, leaving the grounds covered in shadows. Meril held onto the Keeper's arm so she wouldn't trip--as she was prone to do--and she felt her face warm slightly. It wasn't the same sort of blush or head-rush or _anything_ she got from the twins...but it was there, and she was more than slightly disturbed by it.

"Oops! Are you alright?" Oliver asked as Meril, once again, tripped over her own feet. Her mind was too busy trying to wrap itself around this new feeling she had to even spare a second to making sure she didn't land flat on her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him. "Let's just get inside. It's...it's cold out here."

Truth be told, the dementors were around and she didn't want to start screaming and sobbing in front of him. It seemed even more mortifying to be seen doing that in front of him than it did in front of anyone else--even the twins. She suspected, though, that this was because she didn't know him as well and was not as sure as to how he would react. Not willing to find out, either, she hurried to the doors, racing up the steps, and dragged him inside.

Very few students remained lingering in the halls. The two rushed along, not wanting to get in trouble for being up after hours.

Meril could have sworn she felt someone watching her. Assuming it was Mrs. Norris, she hurried faster and did not dare catch her eye. But the feeling never left, not until she made the turn that would lead her to the Gryffindor Tower.

"_Alihotsy_," Oliver said. The dozing Fat Lady swung forward, admitting the two into the Common Room. Plenty of people still were seated around the fire, doing homework or simply chatting with friends. Just as Meril plopped down in a chair, drawing the bag she had been lugging around all evening onto her lap, George jumped to his feet.

"I'm tired," he explained when greeted with questioning stares. He looked at Fred, then Lee, then at Meril.

"Goodnight," he said simply; his eyes bored into blue, and Meril smiled up at him, trying her best not to admire the green flecks mixed in with light brown.

"Goodnight," she replied.

He stared at her for a moment longer, then his eyes narrowed and he looked over at Oliver. He lingered for a moment at the bottom of his dormitory stairs then, shrugging, he went up.

"What was all _that_ about?" Lee asked, laughing, as he took George's seat between Fred and Meril.

"I don't know," Fred and Meril mumbled in unison. They smiled at each other, laughing, and then Meril set to work on her homework. She was foolish not to have started it earlier; she hadn't realized how much she had.

Lee and Fred went up to bed, leaving her there alone. Slowly, more and more people drifted up to bed, and Meril sat there, alone, scribbling furiously.

As soon as her mind started to wander, she closed everything, deciding to work on it later when she was in the right mindset.

She stood and dragged her bag up the spiral staircase to her corridor; it felt heavier than she herself was. Groaning, Meril threw it down beside her bed and changed into her pajamas, feeling more exhausted than she should.

Just as she was going to crawl under the covers, she noticed the absence of something rather important to her--her ring. With more energy than she could muster, she hurried back downstairs. The fire was still burning brightly, but no one was there to enjoy its warmth.

For a moment, she lingered by it, allowing it to heat her skin until it prickled. That was when she stepped away and swiped up her ring from the table she had left it on. In the pale firelight, the swan etched on the surface looked as if it was moving. She stared curiously at it for a moment; now, it was a short moment, but it was long enough to give someone time to come down. And that he did.

"Oh! Hello Meril," Oliver Wood greeted. "Long time no see."

"Oh! Yes! Hi!"

She shoved her ring onto her finger and blushed as she looked down at herself. She was wearing boxer shorts and a baggy t-shirt with slipper socks.

"I just came down here to get my ring," she explained hurriedly.

"Right. And I just came down because I left my book."

"Oh. Well...Goodnight."

"Yes. Goodnight."

Before anything else could be said, Meril rushed up the stairs and threw herself into bed, her hand whacking the bedside table.

"Whawuzthat?!" Hayley exclaimed, flying up. Her eyes were still closed and she had drool on her chin. It was obvious she had been sleeping quite a while.

"Go to sleep, Hayley," Angelina and Alicia grumbled angrily, they themselves half-asleep.

"Alright..." Hayley Dobson slid back down under her covers, and not even a second later, there were snores coming from her bed.

Meril laughed to herself and climbed under the covers, following her friends' advice for the roommate and going to sleep as well.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

It was getting closer and closer to Meril's birthday, and she was getting more and more excited. She sang each morning when she woke up and every night before she went to sleep. Most people were looking forward to it just so that she'd stop singing at them.

Fred and George became less and less busy with Jennifer and the parchment (until, finally, October 15 came and they ended their relationship with both) and more and more busy with Quidditch. The real season had started by now and Oliver had scheduled training sessions three times a week, which was keeping the team and Meril rather busy.

Meril had learned to bring her homework with her when she went so she wouldn't be so busy afterwards. She actually got quite a lot done, but also, it kept her mind off of things that had been bothering her, like Meril.

The two were friendly with one another again, almost to the point where it could have been mistaken that they had made up, but still no one had said "I'm sorry" so still, the friendship had a hole in it (though a noticeably smaller one).

After almost every practice, Meril would walk back with Oliver and the two would talk. Meril learned that he _did_ have other interests besides Quidditch, but when he left Hogwarts in June, that was what he wanted to go off and do.

Sometimes Fred and George would hand back with them to talk as well (Meril got the vague impression that it was George's idea, though she thought nothing of it). However, this was not one of those times.

Oliver was, once again, the last to leave. He took care of cleaning up any tiny mess that had been left behind, and then he and Meril set off together, as they had been doing. Meril was in high spirits because Fred and George had not said a single word about Jennifer for the past four days, and hadn't pulled the parchment out, either. In fact, they were acting as if they had never been spending time with either of them. Oliver, on the other hand, was in high spirits because the team was doing so well. Despite the fact that the weather was getting colder and wetter and the nights were getting darker, the team was excelling. There seemed to be nothing that could stop them--_nothing_.

"Guess what, Ollie?!" Meril began excitedly; they were halfway back to the castle and had barely said anything, both too excited about their own things.

"What?"

"Only t--"

"Only twelve more days until your birthday. I know. I've been keeping track."

Meril's stomach churned and her heart skipped. "You have?"

"Yes," he replied, smiling at her. She smiled back and looked away. She was beyond happy now. She was..._elated_. And she wasn't even sure why. She just felt so light and airy!

The two reached the Entrance Doors and stopped. Today, no despair was filling Meril, even as she became colder. She was simply too happy to feel the effects of the dementors.

"Meril," Oliver began, his voice husky. He turned to face her. He looked...confused. Meril's smile faltered but did not break.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing! I'm just..." he paused. Slowly, he leaned closer to Meril, swooping down upon her gently. His hands held her sides gingerly. Meril's stomach churned and her heart raced. She leaned in, too, slow and unsure. Their faces were centimeters apart; she could feel his breath on her.

Meril's mind was racing as pictures entered and exited her head. The faces of Steven, Fred, and George all flashed through her mind, the red of the twins' hair, the freckles of their faces, and their hazel eyes lingering longer than any other parts. She waited for Oliver's face to come, but when it did, it was barely there.

Instinctively, she pulled away; it was very discreet, but still had its effect. Oliver hesitated; his hands dropped, and he pulled away.

"N-not yet," Meril stuttered, ducking her head. She pulled open the door and Oliver followed her inside. Once again, only a few students were still up and about, and they were scurrying off hurriedly.

"I just have to take care of something. I'll see you later," Meril said slowly; her voice was barely audible. She was so embarrassed. But what was more, she didn't understand. Why was his face so quick to leave her mind? She liked him; she could tell. She no longer just felt addicted to listening to his voice, but also to watching him; to being around him. She blushed almost as much around him as she did around George...and Fred.

_Yes, **almost**_, a voice inside her head whispered. _'Almost' isn't the same as 'as much as.'_

Meril frowned. Yes, but still. She _liked_ him. And, well...it seemed like he liked her? So what was so difficult about just kissing him? It seemed like that was what he had been going for before she had so stupidly pulled away.

"Ugh, this day has just been too lo--OH jeez! What the _bloody hell_ was that for?!" she hissed at whoever had just pulled her under the stairwell.

"_Lumos_!" the person whispered, lighting up her face.

Ew. It was Amy.

"Ew. What do you want, Amy?" Meril snarled, pulling her arm away from the seventeen-year-old Ravenclaw's grip.

"I'm just warning you," the blonde replied, her eyes narrow slits on her face.

Meril blinked. "Warning me about _what_?"

"You stay away from Oliver Wood, alright? He's mine."

"Yours? _Yours_?! I've never seen him talk to you **ever**! He's never talked about you, either! So really, I don't think he likes you! In fact, I don't think **anyone** likes you, so why don't you just go find Sirius Black and _blow up_?"

Amy moved so quickly Meril didn't even see it; all she felt was the aftermath of her cheek stinging, hot.

"_Shut up_! You don't know what you're talking about!"

"Oh, but I think you do. You're obsessed with Oliver Wood, and you don't like to see him hanging out with any girl who isn't you. Well, sorry Amy, but you don't control who I do and don't hang out with! I control that!"

Amy smirked. "Oh, so you're controlling the fact you aren't hanging out with Heather Scarlett, eh?"

Meril's face paled and she raised her hand as if to slap her. "You don't talk about that, okay? That is _none of your business!_"

Her voice echoed through the empty halls. Amy slapped a hand over the brunette's mouth and glared harshly at her.

"I'm in enough trouble as it is! I don't need any more because of you!"

"Then you shouldn't have assaulted me and dragged me over here!"

"I had to!"

"Right. Because you knew I was going to listen _to you_. Honey, I've beaten you up before and I can do it again."

"That eager to go back to Boot Camp, are you?" Amy said smugly.

"Shut up."

"Just stay away from Oliver, alright?"

"And what will you do if I don't?"

Amy smirked and Meril felt a shiver go up her spine. She really would do better in Slytherin than she would in Ravenclaw.

"Just stay away from Oliver Wood, or else. This is your first warning."


	19. Wishes

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen—  
**Wishes

* * *

Now Meril wasn't afraid of Amy, but she wasn't stupid, either. She knew that Amy was just trying to provoke her so she'd get in trouble. That seemed to be Amy's one true goal in life—to get Meril expelled. And she almost succeeded when she got sent off to boot camp. That was the one thing Meril truly held against Amy—sending her away. And she would do _anything_ to get back at her for that. However, most things that Meril thought of would, if she got caught, earn her a more permanent break from the castle.

Meril heaved a sigh as she jumped over the trick step. What _was_ she to do? It wasn't as if she could simply stop hanging out with liver. It would be rude, and besides, she liked him too much. If it were someone else, like perhaps Hayley, maybe she would be able to do that. But not Oliver.

"_Alihotsy_," Meril sighed. She quickly sidestepped as the portrait swung open. The Fat Lady was busy scolding Meril for being out late, but Meril was, of course, tuning her out. Staring straight ahead, yet not seeing a thing, she shuffled into the Common Room.

Immediately her body tensed and her eyes focused. A large crowd of people surrounded the bulletin board, starving avidly at one particular spot. The last time this had happened, a large group of third years had jumped Meril because of a stupid Wanted poster the twins had put up. Cautiously, she stepped forward, afraid something similar was about to happen. However, no eye so much as flickered in her direction. Meril let out a stream of air, relieved, and headed over to where she saw the twins and Lee sitting in a corner.

"Hey guys," she greeted with a grin, falling back onto Lee's lap. "What's going on over there?"

"Hogsmeade trip. It's at the end of October—Halloween, actually," George replied, his eyes focused on a blank piece of parchment as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world.

"Of course, we already knew about it though, didn't we?" Fred said, holding back a grin that Meril knew he so wanted to wear.

"You did? How?" Meril inquired, a puzzled expression on her face.

"We have our ways," Fred replied mysteriously. Meril gave him a skeptical look and he jiggled his eyebrows at her, causing a giggle to erupt in her throat.

"Oh? And what, pray tell, _are_ these mysterious sources?"

"Oh, you know…Teachers, sneaking, prying, the schedule in Filch's office from last year, you know…The usual," George replied before Fred could say another word. His face remained expressionless as he continued examining the old, blank parchment.

"Ah, yes. The _usual_," Meril replied knowingly. A stretch of silence followed. George's eyes flickered off the parchment for the first time since Meril entered the Common Room; he kept looking back and forth between Oliver, who was watching Meril in what he considered a discreet way, and Meril, who was humming to herself as she played with Lee's dreadlocks.

"I've been needing to visit Zonko's," Fred said suddenly. George's eyes slid towards his twin; Meril dropped Lee's hair and both she and her victim stared curiously at him.

"Well, we were talking about Hogsmeade before, and I needed to get that out there," he explained; his three companions nodded.

"I need to make a stop there, too, okay? So count me in, okay? I'll go with you first thing!"

Fred grinned widely. "Great!" he exclaimed. Meril smiled easily back and resumed playing with Lee's hair, therefore missing the exchange between the Weasley boys' eyes; it was a triumphant look that they passed between them—a mission well done. Everything was going just as they planned it would; they knew Meril well; _too_ well.

The brunette smiled happily to herself as she continued to hum a tune that no one else knew and run her fingers through Lee's dreadlocks. However, she suddenly stopped dead, her ears perking up as she listened.

Footsteps.

They were slightly heavy as they tread across the Common Room. Meril knew the sound of those footsteps; the uneven stride. She had grown accustomed to listening for it over the last week or so, and quickly grown familiar to the sound.

Quickly and none-so-gently, she hopped off of Lee's lap and stumbled forward; George instinctively grabbed onto her arm, catching her before she tripped and fell on her face.

"You okay?" he asked gently, still holding her to keep her balanced.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," she said breathlessly, pushing her hair from her face as she snuck a glance over her shoulder. He was too close; she still needed to figure out what she was going to do. It had barely been half an hour since _it_ happened. She couldn't talk about it already!

"Look, I'm…tired. I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning. Night!"

And, without thinking, she ruffled Lee's hair and kissed each twin's face softly before half-skipping half-running off to her dormitory. It was only once she had made it up the spiral staircase that she realized what she had done.

"Oh _shi--_"

"Meril! Watch your tongue!" Alicia scolded, looking up from her book. Meril scowled at her friend and blew her a raspberry before plopping down on her four-poster bed.

"You act as if you've never heard someone curse before," Meril said accusingly, glancing over at the Chaser. Alicia merely lifted her eyebrows and smiled slightly before moving her attention back to her book

"So, what's wrong? Why are you cursing?" Alicia asked, turning the page. Her eyes flickered only momentarily up towards Meril's face before returning to her book, as if the words on that page were far more important than anything Meril could have just done.

"Well, I'm not going to bore you, Aly. I'd hate to take your attention away from anything interesting simply to tell you all the things that happened this afternoon," Meril said sarcastically.

"Okay."

Meril sat up and stared wide-eyed at her friend, disbelief evident on every contour of her face. She certainly hadn't expected to get that reaction from _Alicia _of all people. Alicia was always more than willing to stop whatever she was doing to listen to potential gossip.

"Well then!" Meril, still shocked, exclaimed. Glancing cautiously at Alicia, she settled back down on her bed. "If…you're sure."

And then what Meril had been waiting for happened. Alicia dropped her book and burst out laughing. "I-I'm sorry!" she screeched, gulping for air. "I just couldn't take that anymore! Jeez, you have n-no idea how hard it is for me to st-stay quite and uninterest-ed! And the l-look on y-your face was pr-priceless!"

Meril cleared her throat and smiled softly. "Actually, yes, I do know."

"Whatever!" Alicia giggled, waving away her friend's comment with her hand. "So, seriously, tell me. What's up?"

Meril opened her mouth, but her tongue suddenly felt heavy and dry. Her blue eyes still wide, she stared at Alicia, sitting attentively on her bed, and couldn't help but feel that the first person she should tell this story to be Heather. She blinked and swallowed, preparing herself to tell Alicia that, but her friend had misinterpreted her silence and opened her mouth as well.

"You don't want to have to tell the story more than once, do you? Okay. I'll get Angelina."

Meril's face fell as Alicia ran to the staircase.

"**_ANGELINA JOHNSON!! GET UP HERE RIGHT NOW!!"_**

She and Meril both listened for some sort of response; Alicia hoping that Angelina had heard and she didn't have to go storming down there; Meril hoping just the opposite.

But, of course, Angelina came running up the stairs, a small square of parchment waving in her hand. She showed it to Alicia and grinned. Alicia, however, shook her head, her eyes flickering towards Meril, and shoved the parchment away.

Hastily shoving the parchment into her back pocket, Angelina followed Alicia over to her bed. "So, what did you call me up for?"

"Meril was going to tell us a story, wasn't she?"

"Oh, um, actually I--" the brunette began slowly, but neither of her friends paid her any heed.

"Well then, let's hear it!" Angelina exclaimed, sitting down beside her fellow Chaser. Meril sighed and shifted on her bed.

"Well, okay I guess," she sighed. _I'm not always going to be able to tell Heather everything first. And, they're here and listening, so…I might as well,_ she thought a bit reluctantly. She _always_ told Heather things first. But why? Heather didn't always tell _her_ things first, or else she would have known about Cedric. And Angelina and Alicia were great listeners, and they cared, though they wouldn't understand the way Heather did.

Meril took a deep breath, preparing herself to break with tradition for the first time in almost fifteen years.

Without stopping, she told the two Chasers everything that had happened from the time she left Quidditch practice to the second she walked up those stairs. She felt awkward and stumbled over her words, her mouth dry, especially when it came to the parts including kissing, but she was glad to see that the two were listening and reacting in every way that Meril could ask for. They gasped, they laughed, they insulted; it was great, and Meril forgot momentarily who her audience was.

"You kissed the twins?! That's so exciting!" Alicia shrieked as the story ended. Meril grimaced.

"Not so loud," she hushed, looking around to make sure no one had heard; not that there was anyone else in the room for her to see.

"But you did it **right in front of Oliver**! I wonder how that made him feel. _Especially_ since you had **_just_** pushed him away when he tried to kiss you."

Meril's face fell; she hadn't thought of that. She had been to preoccupied with the thought of having actually _kissed them_. And sure, it was on the cheek, and she had done it before, but somehow, right then, she had felt…like it was different; that it meant more than it ever had before. And that scared her; a lot.

"Oh, I hope he wasn't upset. That would be just awful! Because I do—" she stopped dead, her eyes narrowing as she stared at the two Chasers. Both were eager to hear more, she could tell, though Angelina tried to hide it.

"You do _what_?" Alicia asked slyly, a smirk twitching on the corners of her mouth.

"I…care for him," Meril answered quietly; her throat felt dry. Where _was_ that water pitcher?!

"Like a friend, _right_? That's why you pushed him away, right?" Angelina asked; her tone was pressuring Meril to agree with her. That just seemed like the write answer. She hadn't gotten into the real reason she had pushed him away with them; that much she was saving, just for herself.

"R-right," Meril stuttered. She gave a short nod of affirmation.

"Right," Angelina repeated, nodding slowly; she held Meril's gaze unwaveringly, fiercely; Meril desperately wanted to look away, but something wouldn't let her. So instead, she kept Angelina's gaze, nodding along with her and fiddling with the swan-engraved ring.

Finally, Angelina looked away. Meril, still fiddling with her ring, stood and walked silently to her chest. She pulled out some new pajamas and changed quickly. Then, brushing her teeth, she said good-night to her friends and curled up into a ball and fell asleep.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Even though Fred and George had been freed from Jennifer's evil clutches, they were still busy a lot of the time. They were often sneaking off with a large envelope, talking in secret with a large variety of people. The one time Meril had followed them, she saw them handing out little parchment squares similar to the one Angelina had been waving on the twentieth—after the kiss and before she told them what happened.

Of course she was curious what was _on _ that parchment. After all, Alicia had shoved it away as soon as she saw it, casting looks at Meril as she did so, and Fred and George would never let her look. Everyone seemed to have one, but not _once _ did she catch a glimpse. So when she was so close to finding out—right behind the twins—she thought that finally she would have her chance.

However, the twins hexed her so that everything she saw was flashing in different colors. She ran straight into an open door as she tried to make her way back down the hall and had to be guided to Professor Flitwick for a remedy, and then to the Hospital Wing so Madam Pomfrey could give her some ice. Sadly, her cast could _not_ be removed quite then—Meril asked—but soon, if she didn't injure herself anymore, it would be taken off on Halloween.

But of course, what was taking up most of Meril's time over the next few days was not her obsession with counting down the days until she was _finally_ fifteen. No, she busied herself mostly with trying to avoid awkwardness with Oliver and make it seem as if she wasn't avoiding him, even though she was. She had several reasons to be doing this, the most Important being she wasn't sure of what to do or how to act around him anymore, though Amy made it perfectly clear to her that she knew she'd "see sense" eventually.

Boy, did Meril want to punch Amy's face in right then and there. That girl was _so _condescending! No one liked her, she was an evil little cockroach, and out to get everyone. It would really just be better if Sirius Black—or _someone for Merlin's sake!_—would just come and finish her off. Seriously. She and Jennifer both.

"The Purification of Hogwarts: Phase One," Meril said, smiling as she did so. She liked the sound of that. Ridding the school of all the evil people that inhabited it, leaving only decent ones. Of course, Meril wasn't sure that this kept her in school. And, Hogwarts may not be as interesting with them all gone.

"Just Amy and Jennifer then," she reasoned.

"What the _hell _are you talking about?" Lee asked, throwing down his quill and staring at her.

"Yeah, seriously," Fred grumbled.

"I dunno, guys. I kind of like her like this; it's amusing," George added, grinning. There was a twinkle in his eye that made Meril blush; she scowled at this and his words, turning away.

"If you _must _know, I was thinking about what it would be like if Sirius Black came here and got rid of…two people who I don't like."

"Oh. So that's where Amy and Jennifer come in?" Lee asked, cocking a brow; Meril nodded. "So no Harry or Draco?"

Meril considered this for a moment before shaking her head, surprising herself. "Nah. I mean I don't like them, but, I don't loathe them the way I do Amy and Jennifer."

"Aha! So you **admit **that you don't like Harry!" Fred exclaimed, jumping to his feet and pointing an accusing finger at Meril. Meril blinked up at Fred, a blank expression on her face.

"I never denied it. Now sit down; people are staring."

And it was true; everyone in the surrounding area was staring at them. And, to make it worse, they were all Gryffindors (them being in the Common Room and all) so word would more than likely get around to Harry. Oh well. Meril didn't really care if he knew or not; it wasn't a secret to anyone else.

Fred grumbled as he resumed his seat, Lee and George snickering behind their books as he did so.

Meril shook her head and finished scribbling a few notes for her Potions essay. That was the best she could do without access to the library, so it would just have to be good enough for Snape. She looked it over and nodded approvingly; seemed good to her, however, she wanted a second opinion.

"Hey, George!" The redhead looked up from his own essay, a bored expression on his face. Meril thrust her roll of parchment at him. "Check it over. Tell me if you think it's good."

George frowned, shrugged, and took it to read it over, leaving Meril with nothing to do but sit there. Lee gave her a look, his eyebrows both raised high.

"What?"

"Seriously?" he asked disbelievingly. "You are seriously asking that goon to look your Potions paper over?"

Meril shrugged; she didn't see anything wrong with that.

"You do know that you are half the reason _any _of us are passing that class, right?"

The brunette nodded, grinning widely.

"Now do you get my point?"

"Yes, Lee; yes I do."

But she didn't take the paper away. Instead, she continued to wait as George continued to read it, his face growing more and more pallid as he did so. As he finished, he was shaking his head grimly.

"Can I copy that?"

Meril grinned widely. "Go right ahead. Just not word-for-word, you hear? I am going to go try to sneak into the library so I can write my Transfiguration essay."

Her three companions groaned.

"I forgot about that," Fred grumbled, banging his head against his book. Meril cocked a brow.

"I had no idea you cared so much," she commented, highly amused.

The Weasley shrugged. "I don't really. I just hate to see my memory slipping. I'm getting so _old!"_ he complained, shooting Meril a wry smile.

Meril scowled. "Oh, shut up! I'm aware that I'm the youngest in the grade; no need to rub it in."

"But it's so fun! Isn't it, George?"

George looked up from the parchment surrounding him and grinned widely; maliciously. "It sure is, Fred," he agreed.

"You two are…_poo heads_!" she exclaimed. And, with that, she stormed out of the Common Room, accidentally slamming the Fat Lady against the wall as she went.

"Well ex_cuse_ me! Sorry if I was in your way! No worries, I'll just slam myself into the wall on my own next time!" the portrait called out sarcastically after Meril.

"Thanks!" Meril shouted back.

The Fat Lady continued to complain loudly as she closed herself and afterwards, too. Meril rolled her eyes and chuckled as she, now a fair distance away from the portrait hole, listened.

"Now I never!" she screeched, this ugly noise following a loud thud. "Why don't I simply just disappear! It would make things whole lot easier for you bunch, wouldn't it?!"

"Yes, it would!" Meril heard Fred respond, the smile evident in his voice as he said these words. Meril giggled and shook her head. She stopped suddenly to wait for Fred and catch up to her, as she assumed he was going to do.

And he was right. Not even two minutes later, the wiry figure of Fred Weasley stood right beside Meril Lizlow, towering over her by an incredible amount.

"The library, right?"

"Correct."

"Well? Let's go."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

It was incredible that Madam Pince hadn't noticed the two enter. Fred's hair was like a beacon, drawing all eyes immediately to it. Usually, they would have been greeted by her beady, suspicious stare. After all, Fred was never in the library if he could help it, the same going for his twin brother. He _had _ to be up to no good.

And, in a way, he actually was, since he was escorting someone who had been banished from the library into it. But, besides that, he really was doing nothing against the rules.

However, Madam Pince didn't even look up as the two pranksters entered her precious sanctuary. Meril wasn't going to take advantage of this, though. She knew that the hawk-like librarian could look up and spot her at any moment, throwing her out, so she wasn't pushing her luck. She didn't utter a single word as she crept silently down the aisles in search of a book that could help her with her Transfiguration essay on the uses of transfiguration in real life and famous transfigurers of Medieval Times.

"This library doesn't carry _anything_ does it?" Meril grumbled, her eyes flickering over the spines of different books.

It only took that one little sentence for Madam Pince to come swooping down on the two of them. It was as if her ears were programmed to hear the tiniest little utterance.

"_You!_" she shrieked, pointing her bony finger in Meril's face; she stared at it until she was cross-eyed. "What are _you_ doing in _my_ library and insulting its contents?! Out, out, **_out_**!"

"Why can't I be in here?" Meril, still staring at the accusing finger, inquired, her tone _too_ innocent.

Madam Pince's lips thinned and her eyes narrowed. "You know exactly why! Now _out_! The both of you! Scram!" The librarian's voice reached new levels of falsetto as she screamed at them. Trying very hard not to laugh, the two friends ran (this earning them more scolding words) out of the library and out into the corridor.

"Oh, Madam Pince!" Meril called out. She took a small step back into the library, jumping back out right before the librarian could utter a word. Fred snickered and did the same.

Meril hooked her arm through his and the two did it over and over again, going a little further in each time, until Madam Pince looked so mad she seemed about ready to slap them both—or worse.

So, laughing hysterically, the two dashed out of the library. Once out in the corridor, they stumbled and Meril, being as _graceful _as she was, tripped and fell. And, since her arm was still hooked with Fred's, he was dragged down after her, nearly crushing her.

"I can't breathe," Meril gasped, still laughing as she squirmed underneath Fred's body.

"Well, I can help with that!" Fred declared, smirking.

"Oh, so you _do_ know how to stand up? I was curious!"

Fred frowned. "Sorry I'm so heavy, Meril," he teased poking her; she giggled.

"That's-not-helping!" she gasped between fits of giggles. "Seriously! I'm suffocating here!"

"Okay, okay!"

And, rather reluctantly it seemed, Fred got to his feet. He stared at the fidgeting Meril for a minute, shrugged, and walked off, leaving her sprawled out on the ground.

"**_Hey_**!" she screeched in a painfully good imitation of Madam Pince's high-pitched shriek. "Get back here this instant, young man!"

Fred was trying so hard to stifle his laughter; he was trying so hard, in fact, that his face was bright red and he was tearing. Slowly, he turned and stood once again over Meril. He held out his large, freckled hand for her to take.

"Now that's more like it," Meril remarked, smiling satisfactorily. She accepted his offered hand and pulled herself to her feet. Then, smoothing down her still-baggy clothes (she really had to take them in), she hooked her arm with Fred's again.

"So, that was a waste of time…" Meril sighed.

"A waste of time? Oh no, no, _no_!" Fred exclaimed, shaking his head with a grim smile. "Irritating Madam Pince is _never_ a waste of time." He looked down at Meril and opened his mouth as if he wanted to add something to this, but stopped and shook his head, smiling.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," she agreed, smiling a little herself. She rested her head against the tall boy's arm, her smile growing and her face reddening.

"Now that Transfiguration essay? _That_ would have been a waste of time. You're lucky you got out of it."

Meril chuckled but said nothing. There were no words to describe how she felt at that moment; it was too perfect. She could stay like that forever, just there with one of her best friends, her head resting on his arm.

That was her birthday wish: to always have one of her best friends, one of those twins, by her side. What more could she want?

"Only six more days."


	20. Halloween and Hogsmeade

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen—  
**Halloween and Hogsmeade

* * *

Meril woke up suddenly, an excited feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was Halloween—finally. That meant that she would be going to Hogsmeade Village with actual permission from school for the _first _time. But, more importantly, it was the day she waited for almost as anxiously as she did her birthday—the day where she had only _one day_ left to wait. It was on this day, every year until Meril left for Hogwarts, that Melody Lizlow would tell her daughter the story of what she went through to have her. Never, not _once,_ did she forget or decide to say it on her actual birthday. She did this because it was Halloween of 1978 that Melody went into labor, and what a special night it was.

Meril had heard the story so many times that, by now, she knew it by heart. Sometimes, when she was having a bad day, she would play it over in her head, simply because it was so funny; it made everything better.

With a large grin plastered on her face, Meril swung her legs over the edge of her bed.

"One more day until my birthday!" she sang, throwing her arms in the air. Angelina groaned and Alicia threw her pillow at Meril's head as she continued to sing, but Meril did not relent until she ran out of air. Then, with a wave left unnoticed by all, she slid down the banister and then sprinted up the boys' stairs.

All five boys lay asleep in their beds, still as logs, with their blankets thrown about all around them. Their hair was messy; their mouths hung open with spit falling out of the corners of their mouths. One boy's eyes were half opened, rolling back in his head. It was rather frightening; the perfect sight for Halloween morning.

Besides that one boy, they all looked so…peaceful. She grinned wickedly to herself to the center of the dormitory. Then, with a giant gulp of air, she let loose a blood curdling scream. All at once those peaceful teenage boys shot up in their beds, wild eyed and scared.

Meril howled with laughter as they looked around the room, searching for the source of such a horrific noise. At first, none of them saw her, sitting on the ground in the middle of their room, rocking back and forth in a fetal position, tears of laughter streaming down her face.

"Happy Halloween!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms up into the air. As one, the fifth year boys shifted their gaze until their eyes all rested on Meril. For a moment, the girl feared for her life. Each set of eyes was so angry and threatening. She shook the feeling off, knowing that they could do nothing, and jumped to her feet.

"Meril," Scott Gunderson growled, "what are you doing here?"

"Just wishing you all a Happy Halloween!" she replied, smiling innocently at him. "Oh, and I just thought I would remind you all that _tomorrow_ is my birthday. So, if you haven't gotten me a gift yet, time is running out. Maybe today at Hogsmeade you could put a galleon or two aside just for my present."

Scott rolled his eyes. "We are aware that your birthday is tomorrow, considering that—"he cut himself short, thought for a moment, and then continued—"you tell us all the time."

"Well, sure, but did you all get me presents yet?"

"Yes, Meril, we all got you presents because we all love you, okay? You're our favorite person in the world; we could never forget to get you a present. Alright?" George exasperatedly answered, holding his head in his hands.

"And that isn't sarcasm coming from him," Lee added in complete seriousness.

The bright red color of George's face was visible even when covered by his hands. Meril giggled and pretended that she didn't notice as she moved over to sit on Scott's four poster bed. The sandy haired boy quickly jerked himself away from her, just about throwing himself from the bed to avoid her touch.

Meril cocked a brow at him and snorted, "You okay over there?"

"I'm always okay," Scott replied with a smirk. "But thanks," he hastily added, ducking his head down.

"But of course," she responded airily, waving her hand at him. "So, what time do you think we'll be leaving?"

Fred, George, and Lee all exchanged secret glances, and Scott, who she wasn't even addressing, cleared his throat, looking away. The only one who remained completely inconspicuous (not that Meril even noticed any of the behavior of those surrounding her) was the fifth and final boy who took residence in the dorm, Shane O'Gorman. Shane was a relatively silent boy, as far as Meril knew, who the girl often times forgot about. He was nothing extraordinary; not terribly smart, nor athletic; not a goody-two-shoes, but not a trouble-maker either. Shane was permanently stuck in the middle of all things; everything about him was average, from the inside out. It was only when Meril looked at him and remembered that she couldn't recall his name that it came back to her.

"Shane," she said suddenly, staring at him.

The boy's head shot up and he stared right back at her. Meril was shocked to see such a bright, green color in his eyes, mainly because they had just been rolled back in his head as he slept, but also because they stood out, quite unlike the rest of him.

"Yes?" he asked after a moment, his husky voice ringing with impatience. Meril opened her mouth to say something, but instead shook her head.

"Never mind," she mumbled, looking away.

Shane, however, did not turn away. His green eyes were questioning as they bore into her sides. He took in her appearance; her long brown hair was a bird's nest; her blue eyes were groggy, yet bright; her small frame sat, slumped, on the edge of Scott's bed, covered in baggy pajamas that only managed to make her seem smaller than she was; and her face…it glowed. Her cheeks were warm and pink as she stared expectantly at the Weasley boys, waiting for their answer. She tried not to smile, but he saw the way the corners of her mouth kept twitching up.

How peculiar it was. He had never seen anyone look so happy before, not when staring at Fred and George, and most certainly not when they were staring at him.

Instantly, he frowned and turned away. He had more important things to focus on then the way Meril was looking at his roommates. Like, like…he stopped for a moment, his feet hovering above the floor.

No, no he _didn't_ have anything better to do.

Slowly, and without anyone noticing—for no one _ever_ truly noticed what he did—Shane slid back onto his bed and watched.

"_Well_?" Meril pressed, leaning forward with her hands folded together in her lap. "Are you guys going to answer me, or what?"

"We're going to go around…eleven o'clock. Does that sound good to you, Meril?" Lee replied; there was something funny about the way he said 'we.' Meril stared suspiciously at the twins, wondering what was going on.

"Yeah, that sounds fine…" she answered slowly, still waiting for someone to say something more; no one did.

"I better go eat breakfast then," she continued. She rose to her feet and backed out of the dormitory, casting each of its occupants a look as she went.

Meril backed down the spiral staircase, down the short hallway, and then up the spiral staircase into the Fifth Year Girl's dorm. Her eyes never left those stairs, as if she was waiting for someone to come running down them to find her and tell her something else. When it didn't happen, she heaved a sigh and proceeded to her four-poster bed, finally facing the right direction.

Angelina and Alicia had disappeared, no doubt gone to eat breakfast, as had their fifth roommate, Caitlin Haelstrome, who Meril forgot about almost as frequently as she forgot about Shane. The only person left in the room was Hayley Dobson, who was, as always, sleeping.

Meril chuckled to herself as she opened up the trunk sitting at the foot of her bed. At the top, there was the outfit she had chosen to wear. She pulled it out and set it on her bed then walked to the window. It creaked loudly as she pushed it open, but of course, Hayley didn't even stir. Meril smirked, shaking her head, and stuck her arm out the open window. Just as she had suspected, it was chilly outside and the air smelt just as autumn should.

Bringing her arm back into the castle, she shut the window and moved back to her bed. Quickly, she changed out of her pajamas and into her clothes—a black turtle neck that hugged her tightly, showing the shape of her slim arms and small torso.

Meril stared briefly at herself in the mirror before pulling her orange jumper on over the turtle neck. It, too, was clinging to her body, and she had to wonder who bought these clothes for her—her mom, or herself. She didn't typically choose clothes like this—clothes that showed off every curve and flaw in her body. However, she had no time to make adjustments more to her liking, and it was a great Halloween outfit, what with the colors and all.

The boots came on last. They were tall and made with black leather. The laces were orange with little black bats that actually moved, and there were little skull bells at the end of each pair. Even before she put on her Halloween-themed jewelry—which was really just cheap plastic, stringed beads of black, orange, yellow, and purple, with an occasional skull bell—she felt in the Halloween Spirit.

She brushed through her knotted hair quickly and pulled it back into a low ponytail. She wore her eye-makeup a little heavier than usual today, deciding that it matched her theme. Stepping back, she was stunned to find that she actually looked…_good_. Perhaps the colors weren't the best on her, but looking past that, she found she really liked the outfit, despite it being a little sluttier than she was used to. The jumper ended mid-thigh and the boots came up to just an inch under that. She could already tell that they would irritate her so she quickly muttered a spell--_"Avson"—_to make them more comfortable so that she didn't sweat or get chaffed.

Finally, she was finished. With a small wave to Hayley, who slept soundly still, she walked carefully down the spiral staircase, clinging to the handrail as if her life depended on it.

Scott came down from the boys' dormitory at the same time, and as soon as he caught sight of Meril, his eyes just about popped out of his eyes. His hand flew to his face, covering his mouth and his nose, both of which were flowing with some form of liquid.

"Hey, Meril," he greeted, trying to sound smooth. His voice was clogged though, and he wasn't exactly looking so great with blood and saliva staining his hands.

"Hey, Scott," Meril greeted in return, averting her eyes and stifling a laugh.

She got similar reactions as she walked down to the Great Hall; it quickly grew annoying. She wrapped her arms around herself and ducked her head down, hoping against hope that this would stop the male population from 'checking her out.'

However, it didn't, and she was glad to finally reach the Great Hall, where the tables were so crowded it was less likely anyone would take notice her.

Except for when she stepped through the grand oak doors. Her face immediately grew hot as all eyes turned to her, and she scowled. She wished more than anything right then that she hadn't decided against wearing her gorilla mask down to breakfast.

Lee sat waiting for Meril; Fred and George were nowhere in sight. Meril frowned deeply; she knew that something was up. She quickly scanned the room and found that Jennifer Crisp was also missing.

Figures.

Meril slipped in between Lee and another boy; neither even glanced at her, though Meril noticed that Lee's cheeks were tinged pink. She sighed again. She had been hoping that at least her _friends_ could go without doing that.

"Damn, Meril! What happened to you?!" Alicia exclaimed, looking her friend up and down. Meril scowled, her face going red again. "You look so different! You're going to give all the guys a nosebleed!"

"Isn't that right, Lee?" Angelina added, grinning widely.

Lee glanced up and shrugged. "Not _every _guy. Some people would rather look at other girls," he responded suggestively, staring hard at Angelina. Despite herself, the chaser blushed and looked away.

Lee grinned—a success.

Meril rolled her eyes. "Nice," she whispered.

Lee smiled, still not looking at her. "Thanks."

Meril stared at him curiously for a moment, but ended up deciding she would rather not ask. So she moved her attention to the food surrounding her and began dishing some up.

She grabbed for the prongs so she could get some bacon, but her hand was a bit slow, grabbing someone else's hand instead.

"Oops! Sorry!" she laughed, pulling away. The boy seated next to her turned and smiled at her, and Meril was once again startled at how vibrant Shane's eyes were.

"Not a problem. Here." He served her a heap load of bacon, then some sausage, and grinned at her.

"Thanks."

"Not a problem," Shane said again. He smiled quickly and then went to eat his breakfast. His eyes didn't linger on her, as just about everyone else's had. He had looked her in the eyes when she had talked to him, and nowhere else.

Meril smiled, thankful to Shane O'Gorman. Maybe he was a little more than average…

"So where are Fred and George?" the brunette asked Lee conversationally, chewing her eggs carefully. Lee glanced quickly at her before shrugging.

"They already ate; had something to take care of. They didn't really tell me anything."

"Oh." Meril found it highly unlikely, but let it pass. She didn't want to get into an argument; not on Halloween, her second favorite day of the year. It was too happy of a time to get into anything with her friends.

She munched thoughtfully on some bacon, wondering where the twins could have gone. Maybe they were wrapping her presents? They were known for doing that sort of thing last minute…

As Meril was thinking, a wave of owls came flying into the Great Hall. She didn't notice, however, until her mother's owl began pecking impatiently on the large, golden ring she wore.

"What?" she said rather unintelligibly, blinking. The midnight black owl clicked her beak impatiently and lifted her leg. On it was attached a red envelope. Meril's eyes widened; what had she done wrong?

She quickly detached the envelope, shot up, and ran out of the Great Hall; the black owl, Obsidian, flew back out the window without a moment's hesitation.

Meril burst through the doors and ran straight into someone.

"Move, please!" she growled, fumbling with the red envelope in her hands. She would rather it not explode where everyone could hear, especially since she hadn't a clue what she did wrong.

"What's the rush, Meril?"

Meril glanced up and saw Spencer Chatham smiling down at her; he was the only professor she had—excluding Hagrid—who called her by her first name, and Meril didn't particularly like the reason behind it.

Meril stared pointedly down at the red envelope in her hands; Professor Chatham deadpanned, but Meril could see his urge to grin widely at what he saw.

"So if you don't mind…"

Without waiting for an answer, she rushed passed her Arithmancy professor and outside into the cool crisp autumn air. As soon as she did so, the envelope opened, and her mother' familiar voice rang out. However, she didn't seem angry at all; to the contrary, she seemed rather happy. Meril could hear the smile that was on Melody's face as she spoke the words.

"_Good morning Meril! Happy Halloween! I have decided, this year, to send you a Howler, rather than a letter—as I am sure you have noticed—to recite to you the story of your birth._

_"It was Halloween night of 1978 that it all started. We—as in myself and your father—lived in a small cottage in a muggle village. Our house wasn't very nice. It was old, and it showed all around. But we loved it. In our opinions, it was the perfect place to raise a child. The neighborhood was nice, and the house was simple enough that you wouldn't get yourself killed. So we were happy._

_"Anyway, back to the story. It was Halloween, and that meant that little kids were wandering around searching for candy, in the muggle world. Well, our little old house was already considered haunted by our neighbors. We didn't get out much, and we weren't always exactly good at keeping our magic down to a minimum. Most people didn't know that we lived there, and just believed our cottage to be possessed._

_"I watched out the window as some kids, dressed up in silly costumes, dared each other to come up to the house and open the door. All of them were too chicken, except for one._

_"One boy puffed out his chest and marched bravely up towards the house. But as he was doing so, something…unexpected happened. I felt wet and there was water beneath me. Behind me, your father screamed a blood-curdling scream. I turned to see what was wrong and he pointed; I let out a horrifying shriek as well, and I swear it sounded as if someone was being murdered._

_"It didn't help when your father started to scream things in French that neither I nor the kids outside under stood. All that could be heard were screams from indoors and out. I looked out the window and saw the boy frozen to the spot, his face pale and sweaty. He caught sight of me, no doubt white as a ghost, and bolted, screaming like a little girl and running like one, too._

_"Let me tell you, sweetie, it hurt like hell giving birth to you. Your father and I had agreed that we would rather have you at home, in a familiar place, than at the hospital, which neither of us liked very much at all. _

_"We both screamed a lot, but with pauses. However, when the labor started—_really_ started—there was no stopping. All I could hear were screams and French profanities as your dad clutched my arm. _

_"It felt like it took days rather than just a few hours for you to come out. I was hoarse by the time you finally did. You were the most disgusting thing I had ever seen. You were all red and shrieking, filling the silence that had finally fallen over the house. Your father carried you away to get you washed up, leaving me all alone, all hot and sweaty with my thoughts._

_"I was desperately hoping that you would look more like me, because when you came out you looked kind of like your Aunt Gertrude. And trust me, you wouldn't want to look like your Aunt Gertrude, not even back in '78. Or when she was a baby even. Poor soul._

_"But then you came back, all clean and smelling nice, and I knew that I would love you, even if you did look like her, although it was already becoming apparent to me that you wouldn't._

_"The next day, we went out to Hogsmeade Village, a place we both loved, and shopped and relaxed inside the Three Broomsticks. When we returned that night, the house was gone—burned—and in its place there was a small sign reading '_Be gone, evil; perish from this village and purge us all.'_ Knowing we were mainly what it spoke of, we left." _She paused slightly.

_"So now it has been fifteen years since the day I went into labor with you. Congratulations, Meril, darling. I am so sorry I can't be there with you, but, I somehow just know you'll have a great time anyway. I love you."_

And that was that. The letter went up in flames, leaving Meril standing there, smiling and laughing to herself. Even after hearing it so many times, she got a kick out of that.

Growing chilly, she turned to go back inside, her mother's voice still echoing in her head. Melody never spoke her deceased husband's name if she could help it; it was easier to talk about him if he seemed detached from things, like she didn't remember him. Meril had inherited that thought process from her mom.

"So, that's the story of your birth, huh?"

Meril's head shot up. There Professor Chatham still stood, smiling down at Meril. The young girl frowned and nodded.

"You were eavesdropping," she stated; the golden-haired teacher shrugged.

"A little eavesdropping never hurts."

"Well, what would you do if I were ever to eavesdrop on **you**?"

The man thought for a moment before shrugging. "I don't suppose I would care too greatly. I don't tend to discuss things I don't want people to hear."

Meril glowered at him, and he simply smiled in return.

"So, tomorrow is your birthday, huh? I remember Melody saying something about that…in fact, she sent me something to give to you." He grinned once again.

"Why didn't she just send it to me?" Meril demanded, offended by her mother's actions.

Spencer Chatham simply shrugged. "Honestly, I have no idea. But stop by my office tomorrow and I will happily give it to you."

Meril swallowed hard before saying, "Thank you, Professor."

"Please, save the formalities for the classroom. Out here, we are simply…acquaintances. So call me Spencer."

"I'm not sure I feel comfortable doing that, Professor," Meril replied stiffly.

"Then how about calling me…Chatham?"

Meril looked bewildered. "No! I don't call teachers by their last name to their face! That's rude! And besides, we aren't on a Quidditch field, where everyone just calls out last names. Merlin, no!"

The young Arithmancy teacher chuckled appreciatively. "Then how about Mr. Chatham. It is still…respectful, showing that we are in no way close, but it isn't as formal as Professor. Does that suit you?"

Meril hesitated a moment before nodding. He _was_ being rather reasonable, after all.

"Good. I'm glad we could agree then, Meril." Once again, he smiled broadly at his pupil, flashing his set of near-perfect teeth. Then, brushing his golden locks aside, he checked his watch.

"Oh, dear!" he exclaimed. "I must be off. It was nice talking to you, Meril, and learning something new about you and your family. I will see you tomorrow, any time!"

Meril scowled. "Alright."

And with that, both went their separate ways; Meril returning to the Great Hall, and Spencer Chatham going…somewhere else.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Eleven o'clock rolled around, and Meril still hadn't seen either of the twins since she had woken them earlier that morning. She sighed; she had been hoping that they would show up, but it seemed that it was just going to be her and Lee on the journey.

Not that that was a bad thing; she missed having quality time with Lee. But it was the day before her birthday, and her first time going to Hogsmeade with school having actual _permission _ to go.

"You ready to leave yet? Or are you waiting for someone?" Lee asked; he watched Meril carefully, finally used to how she looked enough to look at her without flushing red.

"What? Oh, no. I'm ready."

"You didn't want t go with Angelina or Alicia?"

The disappointment was thick in his voice.

"No, I'll catch up with them later. Right now it is just me and you." With some difficulty, she draped her arm over his shoulders and smiled widely at him. Looking at her and hearing her enthusiasm, he couldn't help but grinning back at her.

"We never hang out, just the two of us," she continued, looking ahead of them. "It's not fair, those darned twins always being there between us!"

She didn't mean that, and Lee could tell.

He laughed loudly, shaking his head. "Yes, they are. But that isn't a bad thing, is it?"

Meril sighed and shook her head. "No; it isn't. But it is a bad thing I never hang out with you!"

"I agree. I am _so _much better than those two. You really should hang out with me more."

"Now, now! You are better, but there's no need to go on bragging about it!"

"You're absolutely right!"

The two walked silently for a second, staring straight ahead. But, as soon as they saw each other, they started to crack up.

"So…what do you want to talk about?" Meril inquired after her giggle fit was over; Lee shrugged, and so they walked on in silence since neither could think of anything to talk about.

"So what are we doing today?" Meril finally asked as they were approaching the gates to Hogsmeade.

Lee thought for a moment before answering, "Anything you want to do. After all, tomorrow _is_ your birthday, and what better way to celebrate than by doing just about anything you want!"

"Well, I kind of wanted to commit a mass murder and a jail-break at Azkaban…"

"That could be arranged."

"Oh, yay! Thank you!"

"It will be my pleasure." He bowed low, lifting his head only slightly so that he could see her and she could see his grin.

"You are so good to me," she gushed, placing her hands over her heart and batting her eyelashes.

In response, Lee took Meril's small hand and placed his lips gently against her fair white skin. She feigned a blush and giggled.

"Shall we, my fair lady?" Lee held his arm out for her to take, which she gladly did. Then, looking ever the odd couple, Lee and Meril entered Hogsmeade village.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The village was decorated quite convincingly. Meril had never seen such nice Halloween decorations outside of Hogwarts before. There were not only jack-o-lanterns, but entire pumpkin people, glowing all over. Real spider webs invaded everywhere, and skeletons greeted you outside of almost every door. Inside some stores there were display cases of REAL LIVE monsters—or, rather, just terribly ugly, evil creatures. And, of course, the village had the natural horror that stood there all year long—The Shrieking Shack, looking twice as terrifying as usual.

However, nothing scared Meril more than the blood that was squirting out of some boys' noses and the way they appeared dead when she passed by them. Nothing scared her more than the fact that she was getting used to the looks boys gave her.

"You said I could have _anything _ I want today, right?" Meril asked. She was getting annoyed, not particularly at the boys themselves, but her non-reaction to them. She didn't want to be the type of person who liked boys falling over her. Especially when she didn't know _why _they were doing so.

"Yes. Did you think of another thing that you wanted?" Lee asked as an answer.

"Yes, I did. I would like to be able to enter a room and _not _have every guy drop dead."

"Oh, I know the perfect place! Come!"

Lee wrapped his hand around Meril's wrist and dragged her after him. Meril didn't even recognize the path they were walking on; it seemed rather far off from the rest of the village, wherever it was they were headed. Maybe he was going to take her into an abandoned building; the Shrieking Shack was in the other direction, but perhaps there was another abandoned building in the village.

Her assumptions were incorrect, however. The building they were approaching was far from abandoned, and also far from being Halloween themed, as the rest of the town was that day.

_There has to be someplace else around here that he's taking me to,_ Meril thought, feeling truly horrified as they drew closer to the building; Madam Puddifoot's was the name of it, and Meril could tell it was just the type of place she hated.

Even though Lee must have known what her feelings about this place would be; could see it on her face, plain as day, he dragged her through the doors.

It was a cushy sort of place, with tea and heart confetti. There were cupid statues that moved and shot out arrows. Meril felt sick just looking around in there. However, she was satisfied to see that not a single boy was looking at her. Each of the few boys that were in there were too busy looking at their girlfriends, hiding their tortured expressions as best they could.

The only person who turned to look at her was the owner, Madam Puddifoot herself. She was a squat woman who, unless she had a very nice personality, it was a surprise to see she was taken. However, it made it clear to Meril why she would open up such a place.

"Happy?"

"Yes; but also a little nauseous."

Lee laughed loudly at this; a barking laugh that earned them sharp glares from some of the more serious people in there. This only caused Lee to laugh even more and for Meril to start giggling.

"Come, let's go; before they murder us," Lee suggested lowly, guiding her right back out the doors they had entered through. At first, the two were to busy laughing to notice that there were two more people approaching the shop, who were also not paying attention.

The four all looked up at the same time, oddly enough, and they all stopped in their tracks.

"What are _you_ doing here?" they all asked simultaneously, each pointing at a different person.

"We needed to take care of something," all four replied, followed by laughter.

For a short moment then, there was silence. George and Meril ruined this, however, by speaking up yet again, the same question on their minds.

"You aren't here _together_ are you?"

The look on Meril's face was joking, but George's was quite the opposite. He was serious in his question; his hazel eyes flashed to Lee with curiosity and undercurrents of betrayal.

"No!" Fred and Lee answered, both equally horrified.

Meril and George both took offense to this, though this time it was Meril's turn to be serious and George's to be joking.

"What's so appalling about that thought?" Meril insisted, frowns appearing all over her face. "What's wrong with me that you wouldn't want to take me to this…this…_hellhole_ as a date?!"

Lee looked taken aback by her reaction; he had never dreamed she would be offended by that. After all, she had just been complaining about how every guy was taking notice of her. Wouldn't it be refreshing for her to see that her friend was seeing her as nothing but a friend?

"Nothing's wrong with you!" Lee finally managed to choke out. "I just…don't see you that way. So, really, there's something wrong with _me_! Because you're…beautiful, and you're funny, and you're nice, and you're smart, and just…beyond perfect! If I wasn't friends with you I probably would see you like that, and, well, I wouldn't take you _here_, because, as you said, this place is…well, you se it. But I would…love to take you somewhere…else."

Meril's face was burning as she looked away, and immediately she felt bad for snapping at him. As much as everyone stared at her and told her she was beautiful, she was still insecure about herself. She simply couldn't see herself in that light—with the exception of today—and was afraid that no one else really could either.

"Thank you," she murmured, still looking down.

"It's true," Lee replied uncertainly.

"Yes, well…" Meril straightened up and looked around at the three, a strained smile on her face. "Shall we go?"

"Yes, we just…have one thing to take care of," Fred replied. He stepped towards the entrance doors, glancing at George, who was torn between following Fred and staying by Meril.

"Meril," George began cautiously, his hand hovering by her arm. She looked at him curiously, patiently waiting. He opened his mouth, his throat dry, and chickened out of saying what was really on his mind, instead finishing his thought by saying, "You look beautiful."

With that, he followed after Fred.

"**IT IS ONE O'CLOCK!" **the two bellowed. "**ONE O'CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON!"**

The twins exited the building, smiling satisfactorily.

And that was that.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Lee and Fred swapped partners for the next half-hour or so. George and Lee decided that they wanted to go to the Three Broomsticks, and Fred and Meril still needed to stop off at Zonko's to restock on some things.

As soon as they entered, eyes were drawn towards them. Meril groaned inwardly, thinking that this was the same as every other place, but was relieved to find that the eyes had all moved to Fred.

"Ah, Mr. Weasley! One of my best customers! The other, of course, being the other Mr. Weasley!" a man exclaimed. Judging by the clothes he wore and the way he said '_my _best customer,' Meril decided that _this_ must be the owner—Zonko himself. She seemed to be meeting a lot of owners that day.

"Hello, Zonko," Fred greeted, an easy smile sliding easily onto his lips. "I just came to pick up a few things; I seem to be running low on quite a few of your items."

Zonko smiled toothlessly at Fred. "Ah, that's good to hear. Come in, come in."

"Thank you. Oh, I would like you to meet a friend of mine. Zonko, this is Meril Lizlow. She has quite a reputation around Hogwarts as a prankst-ess. Her subjects call her the Dungbomb Queen."

Zonko raised his eyebrows. "Ah, yes. I've heard teachers groaned about her before. In fact…" Zonko paused and beckoned for the two to follow him. They quickly obliged, following him behind his desk to a section of wall covered completely with frames. Squished between the wall and ceiling were the words 'Wall of Honor.'

"Ah, here it is." He pointed to a frame in the middle of it all. The small golden plate on the frame read 'Most Dungbombs Ever Ordered.' In the frame was an order form from Second Year, where she had ordered over 500 Dungbombs _at once_. That wasn't to mention all of the other times she had ordered Dungbombs and other items.

"I nearly had a heart attack when I saw this order form."

"Well, Filch _did_ have one when he saw the results of it," Fred added, grinning widely down at his female friend. A wicked grin found its way onto Meril's face as she remembered.

"Oh, that was fun," she said wistfully. "Filch was ready to kill me after that one."

Zonko chuckled appreciatively. "Well, why don't you two look around?"

"Oka—wait a minute! Fred—that's you! And George!" Meril exclaimed, pointing to the very top of the wall. There was one long frame. In the center was a picture of Fred and George, grinning, with Zonko's in the background. Surrounding the picture there were all different order forms and used products of theirs. The plate was quite easily read as 'Best Customers.'

"Ah, yes, so it is," Fred said. He grinned around at the room, as if anyone was listening on the conversation.

"Oh, don't you look funny there. You seem to be covered in something! You look like you would like to punch George's lights out. In fact, you're trying, but someone is holding you back…what did he do?"

"_He_ threw that nasty gunk on me. You should have smelt it! It was like a mixture of dung, vomit, skunk, and sulfur. It was terrible, and didn't go away for several days."

Meril nearly laughed out loud, causing Fred to scowl.

"Oh, but look at George!" she exclaimed, turning her attention back to the photo. "He looks rather dashing. Look how he's laughing; he seems so happy and care-free."

Fred's scowl deepened.

"Come on. Let's get some things and go. It's chilly, and I could do with a nice Fire—Butter beer! Butter beer!" He finished rather hastily under some random adult's fierce gaze. Satisfied, the man looked away and Fred muttered, "Nosy little bugger," under his breath.

"Alright, that sounds nice to me. I am quite chilly myself."

Fred looked her over quickly for the first time that day and looked away, eyeing something else to hide his blush. "Yes, I can sort of see why," he muttered, hinting at the skimpy way she was dressed.

"Here—this will warm you two up for a bit!"

Zonko held out a small item, shaped like a lightening bolt, and bright yellow. Something inside of it was moving; flickering. Fred cautiously reached for it, but Meril reached it first.

Just holding it, her hand grew hot. "What is it?"

Zonko grinned that toothless smile again. "You'll see. Just try it."

"How?"

"Open it, take one out, and pop it in your mouth."

Meril reluctantly did as she was instructed. She found the latch on what was apparently a box, opened a shimmering tablet, and popped it in her mouth.

Immediately she felt an electric shock; everything inside of her buzzed with electricity. Her skin was boiling; she felt burnt and feared that everything she had so carefully put together would be ruined.

However, as she spotted in a mirror, she was perfectly fine. She wasn't burnt; her clothes weren't singed, and her hair was no bushier than usual.

"I'll take some!" she announced. She loved the feeling of warmth inside of her. Though not as satisfactory as sitting by the fire with some butter beer, it did the job and it did it quickly.

"Sorry, dear. It isn't for sale yet. Still under…testing."

"Well, it works great!"

"Yes, yes, I thought so….I just wanted to see someone else's reaction to it."

"Tell me when it's up for sale," Meril said pleadingly, knowing how cold she always got.

"Will do."

As this conversation was going on, Fred stood behind Meril, absolutely hysterical. She ignored it as best she could, but enough was enough!

She whirled around quickly; fast enough to see Fred's eyes shoot upward from her butt. "_What_ is going on and _why_ are you staring at my ass!?" she demanded.

"L-look in the m-mirror!" Fred hiccupped, keeling over with laughter.

Meril once again found herself following someone else's orders and was horrified by what she saw. A long, bushy tail was growing out of her butt, dusty brown in color and ended at her knees.

"W-what is this?!" she exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Ah, that looks like a wolf's tail. Very nice, very nice indeed…I rather thought that you would get the fox tail, but this is close enough for my satisfaction," Zonko said pleasantly, a smile never leaving his face.

"How did I--?"

"The pill, of course! I am still trying to come up with a name, but right now I am kind of liking the sound of 'Lightening Asses.' What about you, Fred m'boy?"

"Oh, that sounds quite flashy to me," he replied with a wink.

"Oho! I'm so glad you got the joke!"

"Yes; quite clever."

"But do you think that it gives the customer a good idea as to what they do?"

"Well, it's sure to catch the eye…and you could always put a brief description on the label."

"Yes, yes…Well, I will get back to you with that. Now, Meril…would you still like to order some of these when they come out?"

"That depends," she muttered moodily, eyes still glued to her reflection. "Is there a remedy?"

"There will be, but I haven't quite fixed it up yet…"

"Then how am I going to get this blasted thing off?!"

"With a spell, of course! Or you could just see how long it takes to wear off…"

"I would rather not wait it off, thanks. Now perform the spell, please, and then preorder both product and the remedy for me, please."

"That-a girl!" Zonko exclaimed with a grin. He brandished his wand, muttered a few words, and Meril felt the tail give a tug, then disappear. "There we go!"

"Now, what does the remedy do?"

"The opposite, of course. It sends cold all throughout the body, practically freezing the user on the inside, though the outside remains relatively unaffected. Then, ice covers the tail and it snaps off. I haven't got it quite right yet, but that's the basic idea."

"Very clever," Meril said with a grin, in a better mood now that she was tail-free.

"Yes, I thought so. Now, what would you two like?"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The two left the shop with a few bags each. Meril was quite pleased with that trip and what she had accomplished, despite the fact that she had both grown and lost a tail in the process.

"To the Three Broomsticks now, correct?"

"Yes, that's right. Come on, let's hurry!"

"Why? It's hard to run with these bags."

"Mer, it's hard for you to run in general," Fred countered with a smirk.

Meril gasped, stopping dead. "That is not true! I am an excellent sprinter!"

"Yes, yes; alright. This is all so trivial. Can we please just be going?"

"We're almost there; hold onto your britches. Jeez…"

Not a moment later they stepped into the warm, cozy bar. Fred didn't even stop for a moment to enjoy the warmth flowing over their bodies; he grabbed a hold of her hand and tugged her along after him to one of the back rooms where she had never been.

"Here we are," Fred announced. He took a deep breath and pushed open the door.


	21. The Party

* * *

**Chapter Twenty—  
**The Party

* * *

"After you," Fred said, grinning widely at Meril. He bowed and swept his arm out before him, signing that she should enter the room—Hall Number Two. Meril did so, feeling a bit numb.

"What _is _this?" she wondered, her voice so soft she was nearly silent. In the center of the room there was a large, long table filled with a various array of foods. There wasn't very much, but it was enough for Meril to know that they would be soon joined by others.

The normally stone walls had been covered completely with photos. All the pictures were black and white and were of Meril doing various things. Some had her with her friends; others she was with her family; but mostly, she was alone, doing some crazy stunt or another that someone had decided to photograph.

She turned then and saw that there was a strip of photos that were not black and white. There were about thirty of these photos. Fifteen were her on her birthday, alone, blowing out the candles on her cake (well, except for the first one, where she was laying still, sleeping). Under that row, which took up the whole wall, there was a photo of her surrounded by the people who had spent the occasion with her. The only ones without Heather in them were her actual birthday, and then her thirteenth and fourteenth birthdays, when she had been away.

She slowly approached these photos, running her fingers along them. She felt something prickling in her eyes, and her throat was constricting. Quickly, she looked away and smiled brightly at Fred.

"What is this?" she laughed, staring up at the gold, red, silver, and blue streamers.

"Take a guess."

Meril laughed, shaking her head in disbelief. "This is amazing; thank you!"

Without any warning, she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his torso. She stayed there for a while, burying her face into his chest, breathing in his scent. She liked his scent. It was a sort of mixture of firewood and laundry detergent. She had difficulties describing it, but that didn't make her like it any less.

"You're welcome," Fred answered after a long pause. He wrapped his arms around her, feeling slightly awkward, but soon found comfort in resting his chin upon her head.

Taking one last whiff of Fred's sweater, Meril pulled away and continued to look around. It was then that she found the two doors in the back. Curious, she turned back to Fred. "What's in these rooms?"

"Go ahead and have a look. I have to go check on some things."

Meril turned the knob on the first door and found another long table filled with food. Every square inch of the table was covered with food, covering most of the brilliant blue table-cloth that covered the long wooden table. Plates were floating magically above others so to give more room. She had to wonder why it was all back there and not in the front, but no one was there for her to ask.

Although her stomach was grumbling and her mouth was watering as she stared at the delectable treats served there, she stepped back and closed the door. It would be better if she waited for someone to give permission for her to eat then for her to simply assume it was alright for her to.

The second door was already slightly ajar. Thinking nothing of it, Meril gave it a little nudge until the gap between door and wall was wide enough for her head to stick through.

A small pile of presents sat in one corner. She grinned excitedly as she looked at them. So now there was no doubt that this was a birthday party. She was in the middle of wondering how they had had time to pull all of this together when she spotted movement in the corner of the room. Curious, Meril slipped into the room to see what had caused the rustling sound.

A tremendous amount of crepe paper sat in a heap there in the corner, moving. Meril closed her eyes and took a deep breath, fearing the worst. What if a giant moth was under there, moving its wings, just waiting for her to…

With a great shudder and a scream, Meril kicked at the crepe paper.

How easily she got carried away with her thoughts.

"Ow! What the _bloody hell_ was that?!" a voice, muffled by the huge mass of crepe paper(which no one knew what to do with, anyway), screeched. Not a moment later, a head popped out from underneath that horrible mess. Her dark hair was covering her face, but Meril recognized her anyway. Her former happiness at the prospect of the party ebbed away, and she felt suddenly betrayed.

What was _Jennifer_ doing at **her** party?

Instead of saying something, though, the two stared each other down, neither bothering to mask their fury with one another. Jennifer's reasons were that she had just been kicked rather hard with the toe of a boot, and Meril's was simply because Jennifer was poisoning her air with her existence.

"Why did you kick me?!" Jennifer snapped, slowly rising to her feet. She had such a snobby voice Meril wanted to kick her again—harder.

"Well why were you hiding under a mountain of crepe paper?"

"Why were you even in this room?"

"Why are you here at all?"

Jennifer narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. "You want to know why I'm here? Well so would I! I shouldn't have wasted my time on such an ungrateful little brat like you, but I did! And I am going to regret it. So if you don't get why I'm here, just go ask your annoying friends. I'm sure they'll tell you all about it!"

And with that, Jennifer Crisp whirled around, her long, black wavy hair whipping into Meril's face. And that was that. Meril resisted the urge to reach out, turn her around, and slap her senseless. She held her breath to contain her scream and exited to room, just as Fred was re-entering Hall 2.

"People are going to start coming, so can you go stand out there so you can be surprised?"

"Sure. But, um…could I ask you a question?"

"Yes, sure. In a bit. Come along."

Fred seemed distracted as he guided her back out into the busy main quarters of The Three Broomsticks. Out there, Lee and George were sitting at a table by the entrance. Fred pulled out a chair for Meril to sit, but didn't pull one out for himself. Instead, George got up to join Fred outside. Meril looked over at Lee and grinned.

"So it's just the two of us again, huh?"

Lee sensed the bitterness in her voice and smiled sadly at her. "They're just trying to make sure everything is right. They aren't going to abandon you at the party they threw for you."

"Well, you never know," was Meril's answer. She sighed and drummed her fingers on the table, looking around absently. She remained silent, and Lee did the same, not sure what to say exactly.

"They've spent a lot of time on this," he finally said, cringing as he did so. He wasn't supposed to say anything about the planning; the twins were supposed to be the ones who finally told her.

However, Meril didn't seem to put two and two together. She merely looked over at Lee with a soft smile that didn't reach past the corners of her mouth. "I'm very grateful. It seems very nice."

"It will be a lot of fun; you just wait and see."

"I never doubted it will be. Anything those two have something to do with is a blast. And you, too, of course," she added hastily. Lee grinned. She breathed deeply—not quite a sigh—before continuing, "I just hope they aren't going to be busy making sure everything is 'right' the whole time. I'm sure I will be. All I want is for them to hang out with me."

"Yes, yes I know…"

Silence. Again. Lee wasn't used to things being quiet where Meril was concerned. Meril wasn't used to it, either. She usually had plenty to say, but not nearly as much as Lee did. Yet there they sat, silent and unaware that people were spilling in through the doors in tight groups, heading straight for Hall 2.

"George came up with the idea for this party back at the end of last year, though he'll never admit it. He wanted something special to welcome you back; something huge. He told Fred about it, and Fred put it to action. That's how these things normally go, you know. They're a good team. Anyway, the two started scheming, trying to think of different places it could be and what could go on. Only a few of those original ideas stuck, though, when…" He stopped dead.

"When what?" Meril urged.

"Nothing. You'll find out soon enough."

"No! Come on! Tell me!"

"I can't!"

"Can't, can't, _can't_! Is that all any of you know how to say?"

Lee chuckled, shaking his head so that his dread locks gently whipped his face. And then there was silence again. Even though people were chattering excitedly all around them, neither heard anything but the silence at their table. Meril could hear her heart beating lightly in her chest and her thoughts pulsating in her mind, so loud and yet so quiet at the same time.

"So…George came up with it all?"

"Who else would have?"

Meril sensed that these words had a double meaning.

"It does seem to work that way…most of the time…."

"Yeah…He's gone through a lot to make this work; far more than he usually has to do. They were both so desperate for it to be perfect—especially George—that they decided to get help. But I am not saying anymore than that."

Meril stared down at her hands folded in her lap. Her stomach was in knots and her heart was beating far faster than it should. She could feel the blood rushing to her face and pressed her forehead against the tabletop so that Lee couldn't see the way she had reacted to that.

George wanted it to be perfect; he was afraid it would get messed up. _George_ had come up with it all. It was disturbing how her heart reacted to the name alone.

This was bad.

The door opened again, bringing in two red-headed boys this time, the crisp air following quickly after them. Meril and Lee both looked up and stood. Meril rubbed her cheeks vigorously so that no one could see the blush she had still in her face.

"There are a lot of people in there now. Let's go make your entrance," Fred said, smiling down at Meril.

"Okay."

The four moved towards the party. The three boys completely encircled her. And, seeing as each was taller than her, even when she was wearing her heels, she was hidden. No one so much as caught a glimpse of her until they had entered Hall 2, when the boys disbanded, leaving Meril standing alone in the center of the room.

Now balloons were up, as was a banner which had been expertly drawn and designed by someone Meril didn't even know. Now there was also a small fountain with bubbles riding from the surface, and a bandstand. She had to wonder how it had gotten there so quickly, and also how it all fit with still some room to dance and move about freely.

Fred casually moved to the second door, the one Jennifer had been in, and knocked lightly on it twice. Then, moving back, he rejoined George and Lee and waited as at least two dozen people—and Jennifer—piled out into the room.

"Happy birthday, Meril!" they all belted, some far more enthusiastically then the rest. Meril smiled widely at them all.

"Thank you!" she called back to them. Her stomach grumbled again. Spotting the filled food table—which no one was touching for some reason—she moved forward and grabbed a plate. There were some nice looking sandwiches there. She reached for one, but before she could take it, someone grabbed her hand.

Without even looking up, Meril know who it was. Slowly, she turned her eyes on his smiling face.

"I wouldn't eat any of this, if I were you," George warned. His voice was completely serious, but his eyes were sparkling mischievously and there was a smile hidden in the corner of his mouth.

"Why not?" Meril demanded. Her stomach roared loudly, earning her some curious stares. George smiled down at her, his eyebrows raised. "I'm hungry."

"I see that," he laughed. He was still holding her hand, she noticed. "But still, you shouldn't eat that."

"Are you going to just keep saying that or will you explain _why_?"

George sighed loudly, as if the very idea caused him pain. However, he led her aside, his hand still grasping hers tightly, and, making sure no one was listening, he began to explain why she couldn't eat the food in the center of the room.

"We put that food there for those who are not invited to this…_shindig_, but decide that they would like free food."

"That's surprisingly nice of you guys!" Meril exclaimed, looking him up and down as if she didn't know him. Her tone hinted at her being both impressed and disgusted by this.

"You would think so, wouldn't you?"

Meril stared at him curiously. "What, is it poisoned or something?"

George laughed. "It's something like that."

"Wow, someone is letting me use my imagination today. Come on, tell me!"

"Patience is a virtue, child," the Weasley teased, poking her playfully in the nose as he did so.

"I'm no child! Tomorrow I am going to be fifteen."

"You're the youngest in the year; you're a child. Now are we going to argue about your age or shall I tell you what we did to the food?"

"The food."

"That's what I thought. Okay. We decided to test out some of our new products on these moochers. All of these have a spell or something on them, except for a few. They will turn you into things, make things happen to you, or just make you do things. We thought it would teach them a nice lesson. Don't you agree?" He smiled again at her; it was a malicious smile covered in sweetness.

"Oh, yes I do. And did you come up with that idea, too?" She smiled softly at him and gave his hand—he still hadn't pulled away, and she certainly wasn't about to; not when it felt so nice—a small squeeze.

"What do you mean?" he asked, truly puzzled. He tugged his eyebrows together as he always did when he was confused or thoughtful.

"It was _your_ idea to throw me this party. It's always your idea. You are the man with the plan. The plan-man. The brains."

George blushed scarlet, making it difficult to distinguish the end of his face and the beginning of his hair. "Who told you?"

Meril rather hesitantly replied, "Lee."

"Yes, of course he did. What else did he tell you?"

"Nothing, really. Just that you thought of it and really want it to be perfect, and Fred was the one to get it all started, as usual. Oh, and that you got some help. But he refused to tell me anything else."

"How good of him."

"What else is there to tell though?"

George smiled down at Meril again. Every time he did that she swore her heart was going to melt in her chest. "You'll find that out soon enough."

Rather than say anything more, Meril wrapped her arms around his middle. She buried her face into his sweater and took in his scent. He smelt different from Fred. There was no firewood in his scent, but he smelt more like rain—or morning dew—with just undertones of laundry detergent. It was a natural scent, and Meril inhaled it as if it were oxygen.

"Thank you," she whispered into his chest, squeezing him tightly.

"You're welcome," he croaked. His voice cracked in several places, and it was more than obvious that he was uncomfortable, but he didn't want to move.

However, he had to when Jennifer stormed up to the two of them and tapped him demandingly on the shoulder. Groaning, since he already knew who it was, he untangled himself from Meril's grip and turned to face her.

"What do you want?" he sighed, defeated.

"Fred sent me to ask _you_ what I should do now? Everything is set up and things are going well, I think. Do you need anything else, or am I free to go?" Her tone was sharp and heavily hinted at the leaving part.

"As much as we would love for you to leave, there _is_ something you could do for us," George replied in hushed tones, glancing quickly at Meril, who was staring at them inquisitively. Sighing, he pulled Jennifer to the side. "You made a list of all the people we invited; I remember. Could you please go around, checking off the people who have come. And then, once you finish, go stand by the door. You could be like, a bouncer."

Jennifer glared at him, her lips tight and her light brown eyes narrowed. "Fine," she curtly replied. She whipped the invitation list from her pocket and set off on her task, muttering profanities to herself as she did so.

"What is she doing here?" Meril insisted when George turned back to her.

"We'll explain later. Why don't you go circulate, hm?"

"Circulate?"

"You know…talk to the guests. They're all here to celebrate your fifteenth. And for free food and entertainment. But, all the same."

With a final squeeze of the hand and a wink, he disappeared, giving her no option but to 'circulate' as he had suggested.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril hadn't a clue who most of the people in the room were, though they all knew who she was. She supposed that that was a good thing, considering they were at a party thrown for her, but still it scared her a little. How many stories had been told about her? How often had someone mentioned her name without her even knowing it? A million thoughts like these flitted through her mind as she pretended to listen to the chatter going on around her.

"Excuse me for a moment, please," Meril interrupted. She smiled slightly at the two people she was 'talking' to and then slipped off to find someone who she could really talk to.

Angelina and Alicia were by the stage, staring up with eyes full of wonder at the boys setting up. Meril didn't recognize any of these guys, either, though she did have to admit that they were rather dashing.

"Who are they?" she inquired, pushing in between Angelina and Alicia.

"We aren't sure. All we know is that they are the band that will be playing today. And they go to Hogwarts." Alicia glanced at Meril and flashed her a sly smile. Meril rolled her eyes and laughed.

"What?!" Alicia exclaimed. "Wouldn't you like to be able to see these _gorgeous_ specimens of the male body again?"

"I wouldn't mind," Angelina muttered from Meril's other side. Immediately, Meril whipped her head around and stared, her eyes wide with shock, at her friend.

"Angie! That is so unlike you!"

Angelina merely shrugged, her eyes still following the members of the band as they set up their instruments. Although each dressed in a different way, they all wore a little pin on the collar of their shirts. Each pin, however, was also different.

The lead singer/guitarist wore a pin of green and silver; the bass player wore blue and bronze; the drummer wore red and gold; and lastly, the keyboardist wore yellow and black.

Meril eyed the singer again and frowned at the green and silver pin he wore. He looked up and smiled warmly; then, seeing where her eyes were looking, he frowned.

"Yes, I'm in Slytherin, if that is what you're wondering," he said loudly, his voice carrying the same sort of pride that all Slytherin's were expected to have.

"Oh, I know." She gave him another long look and then walked off, leaving the two Chasers to admire the band members on their own. She didn't want anything to do with that; not when there were plenty of people she still needed to talk to.

Like Oliver.

Her stomach twisted into knots as she looked at him, standing with just one other person. He was making small talk, but it was obvious to Meril that he wasn't even paying attention.

She had barely uttered two words to the guy since…_the incident._ She just didn't know what to say. That sort of thing had never happened to her before, and she just didn't know how to react. It would be too awkward for her to just walk up to him and act as if nothing had happened. She wasn't a good actress, and she would more than definitely mess up.

So Meril hovered between walking up to Oliver to talk and just walking away. But she wasn't the one who got to make the choice; Oliver caught her eye, and from there, it was all up to him. Whatever he decided, she would do.

"Excuse me," Meril saw Oliver mouth. He slipped between two people and made his way over to Meril cautiously.

Meril waited patiently for him to get to her, her mind whirring and her stomach twisting. What was she going to say? What was she going to do? She still liked him, but not _enough_. What if he still wanted to kiss her? Would he try again?

Her fingers unconsciously flew to her lips. She couldn't reject him twice; that would bruise his ego, and she wouldn't want to do that. He was, after all, her friend. And she had a crush on him; though she wasn't going to do anything about it. She _wasn't. _

_"_Hey," Oliver greeted rather huskily. Meril felt herself swoon as she listened to his accent. It had been too long since she had heard it; she already wasn't used to it anymore.

"Hi."

"It's been a while since we've talked," he commented, half-smiling at her. It was nice how he didn't take notice to the way these things affected her. It comforted Meril to at least be able to think that it wasn't that noticeable.

"Indeed." She tried to stick to one-word answers so that her voice had less chances of cracking.

"So are we…are we okay?" Oliver was so earnest that Meril was shocked. Finally, she smiled warmly and nodded.

"Of course we are."

"I'm sorry that I—I shouldn't have...without knowing if."

"Ollie—Ollie! Don't worry about it; there's nothing to be sorry about." Meril smiled warmly at him and touched his arm gently. "We're cool."

Oliver smiled brightly at Meril, his whole face lighting up. "Good. I'm glad." He paused and looked Meril over discreetly. "You look nice."

"Thanks. You do, too." And he did. He wore a tan, tight-knit sweater and jeans. His light brown hair was messy, and he was smiling a lot. Meril smiled slightly at him and turned to look around, already feeling the awkwardness sinking in.

"So, when is the first Quidditch game of the season again?" she eventually asked. Quidditch was always a safe subject with him. He could go on for ever and ever and not once would any awkward feelings settle in. Not with Meril anyway.

"Oh! The seventh of November, I believe. Either that or the fourteenth…"

"Oh! So it's pretty soon! You guys ready for it?"

Oliver seemed almost offended that she should even be asking that. "Of course we are! We've been training since before the season even officially started! We've known our strategy for just as long, and our opponents even longer than that! I think that the game will go just as we want it to."

"So do I," Meril agreed, smiling again at the Keeper. He returned the gesture, staring at her oddly, but when he was about to open his mouth to say something more, Meril's ears caught onto another conversation going on in the background.

A voice, so familiar--though Meril had only heard it a few times—that it irked her, said in a dull way, "Name?"

"Jennifer, you know my name."

"Just tell me, would you? I need to mark it."

Sighing heavily, the other girl answered, "Heather Louise Scarlett. Should I show you the invitation, too, or will I be permitted to enter now?"

"No, no; go ahead in now. I just need to find you on the list…alright!"

"Excuse me," Meril said, barely giving time for Oliver to respond before rushing to the door. She slowed as Heather entered, suddenly unsure of herself and what she was going to do. For so long, she had been wanting to make up with her best friend, and now here she was at her birthday party; surely that was a sign that she, too, wanted them to be on speaking terms again. If it wasn't, what would be?

Heather also seemed hesitant. Both hovered slightly where they stood, not sure whether they should move forward or not. Smiles flickered on and off of both of their faces.

"I _was_ invited," Heather said at last. She fingered a small square of parchment as she spoke, as if to prove to herself that she had been, and she hadn't simply imagined it. "So, I hope it's alright that I…came."

Meril nodded. The smile she wore felt cautious even to herself. She touched the corners of her mouth and laughed, hoping to feel the change in the way she held her mouth. She did feel it; it was more relaxed, the way she always used to smile around Heather. She laughed again, nodding.

"Are you alright?" Heather guardedly inquired. She held the invitation closer to her and dropped her canvas bag on the flagstone floor.

"I'm perfectly fine! I'm just…don't mind what I'm doing!" Meril's grin widened, and she could feel how sincere and relaxed it was. "I'm just so glad you're here!"

Without a second thought, she threw her arms around Heather tightly. Not a moment later, Heather was hugging her back and both were babbling at one another, saying how stupid they had been and apologizing profusely.

"I never should have pushed you like that! It's all my fault!" Heather gushed, clinging onto Meril's shoulder and staring pleadingly into her face.

"No! I should learn to control my pride!" Meril insisted, staring just as ferociously into Heather's face.

"Either way, I am so sorry! If you don't want to admit that you're gorgeous, then that's fine with me! There's nothing wrong with modesty! I could learn from you!"

"Are you kidding me?! I could learn from you! I could learn _everything_ from you!"

Heather's face dropped and she stared at Meril, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"I don't know! I can't explain it! It's just that…I am so blinded when I look at myself, and then I get annoyed because other people can see what I don't see; what I don't _want _to see! And you! You work that to your advantage! You know that people are watching you, so you just flaunt it and…I can't explain it, but I envy you! I wish that I knew how beautiful I was; or I let myself pretend I was beautiful or whatever! Just…you know?"

"Oddly enough, I do!" Heather laughed. "I understand what you're saying, even though no one else would!"

"That just proves what a special bond we have, that you could understand the nonsense I spew!"

"Yes; it does!" Heather agreed, giggling and nodding vigorously. Collecting herself, she glanced down at the canvas bag sitting at her feet. "Hey, where do I put the present?"

"Oh! I think that I saw some in the second room…over there." Meril pointed to the corner, where the two doors were located. There was quite a crowd surrounding the first, but the second with basically clear. Heather grabbed Meril's wrist and dragged her to the second room. Inside, the stack of presents had grown tremendously. Meril could understand why they got a room all to themselves. Treading carefully, Heather entered the room, leaving Meril staring in awe from the doorway.

"Where should I put mine?! There are so many bloody presents in here I can barely move!"

"It's unbelievable…"

"Who knew you were so loved, right?" Heather grinned widely and winked; Meril blew her a raspberry in return. "Now, seriously, where should I put this?"

"Anywhere, as long as it isn't fragile."

"Well, _mine_ isn't fragile; I'm just hoping those ones on the bottom aren't! I just want you to be able to find mine and open it! Not first, but just at _some point_ I want you to be able to find it. I'm afraid it will get lost; eaten alive in here!"

"Oh, don't be silly! Just put it down and let's get back out to the party! It looks as if the band is starting!"

"The band?!" Heather shrieked. Immediately, she dropped the canvas bag and jumped back to Meril's side. "My, those boys really did go all out, didn't they?"

"They sure did! I mean, look at this! It's fabulous! The food, the decorations, the entertainment! It's fantastic!"

"I know! They didn't over-do it with anything. Everything is just right to please you. They certainly know you well, wouldn't you say?"

Meril looked around at the room and nodded slowly. "Yeah…yeah, they do." Slowly, she moved towards the bubble-fountain. The bubbles kept floating up out of their; they never popped. Some wandered off to join the party, while others remained at the fountain. The brunette smiled as she leaned closer. Inside each bubble there was a quote, she noticed. Some were funny; some were wise; and others were just plain stupid. She even recognized some.

"Do you like the fountain?" someone whispered in her ear. Meril jumped, nearly whapping Fred and Heather in the face.

"Fred!" she shrieked, punching his arm; he grinned.

"Ha! I scared you!"

"No! You _startled_ me! There's a difference."

"Oh, my! _Startled!_ My bad, I'm sorry!"

Meril smirked. "We've had this argument before, I believe."

"Yes, I think we have…"

"No matter! It was just a reminder!"

"Yes, yes…So, you like the fountain?"

"Oh, yes! It's very nice. Smells good, even."

"Yes, yes. But what about the quotes?"

"Ah! The quotes!" Meril grinned widely. "They're very nice. Some seem familiar…"

"That would be because some are from your shirts."

"I would never put any of those stupid ones on my shirt!" She was truly offended by the mere thought.

"Ah, yes…Those are quotes from you, me, George, Lee, Heather, and other various people. There are even some from people we don't like. Those people always say the dumbest things, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, they do…And the wise quotes?"

"Well, clearly none of them are from any of us; or the people we don't like. Most are from famous people. Dumbledore...Merlin…you know."

"Yes, yes, of course."

"Well, I best be going now! People to see and such. The band seems to be having some difficulties, so I am going to patch those right up." He winked. "No doubt we'll run into each other again, fair maiden...and Meril." He winked once more. "Ta-ta!"

And with that, he was off.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Some time had passed, and the party was going excellently. Several moochers had wandered into the party for some free food and entertainment; they all quickly learned from their mistakes.

The first such people were Ron Weasley and his friend, Hermione Granger. Meril had been standing right by the door when they came in, so Ron quickly wished her a happy birthday and handed her a small parcel before rushing off to the food. Hermione, a bushy-haired girl, blushed, muttered a brisk "Happy Birthday" to Meril, and hurried off after him.

Meril moved to go warn Ron about the food, but then the twins and Lee appeared, evil smiles on each of their faces. They grabbed her arms and pulled her back, then dragged Heather back as well.

"Don't; this is why the food is there."

So they watched. Hermione, ever the polite girl, hung back as Ron filled his plate. He seemed to be saying how odd it was that so much food was there and no one was by the table; the food was delicious!

Fred and George seemed more than a little annoyed by the fact that he was eating and nothing as of yet had happened to him. This, however, relieved Hermione. She grabbed a small biscuit and carefully placed it between her teeth. The five huddled by the doorway watched with baited breath; each second awaiting what would happen next was torture. Finally, though, Ron's luck wore out. He popped a biscuit into his mouth and, not a second after swallowing, turned into a red rooster.

Hermione had swallowed her biscuit just as Ron had transformed. Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to scream—but nothing came out. Her hands flew to her mouth, but she made not a sound.

The five burst into hysterical laughter, watching as Ron fluttered angrily about. Hermione looked mortified; she chased Ron around the table, still trying to make sounds with her mouth. She was bright red, whether it was from embarrassment or from trying to scream, no one watching was sure.

"Prime entertainment, that is!" George exclaimed, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Genius!" Fred agreed.

Despite that fact, however, both brandished their wands and muttered a few words, pointing them at the poor third years. Slowly, Ron returned to his human form. Hermione's face was beat red, buried in her hands. She didn't even try to say anything at first, too embarrassed.

Meanwhile, Ron was on the floor, his long legs stretched out before him. His hair was all tousled and he looked angry and embarrassed all at once. As soon as he realized he was human again, he jumped to his feet and glowered at his brothers.

"You...you…"

"What is it, Ronnie?" Fred taunted, a large grin fashioned on his freckled face.

"What are we, ickle Ronnie-kins?" George cooed.

Ron's ears were so bright they appeared to be on fire. He pressed his lips tightly together and shook his head, knowing full well that whatever he said, his older brothers would find fault in. Hermione, on the other hand, furiously stomped towards them.

"What kind of horrible trick is this?" she shrieked, pointing at the food table. She was red in the face, and Meril could have sworn that her temple was throbbing. "All Ron came in here to do was give Meril a birthday present! So he was hungry, and so he went to grab a little something to eat! You didn't have to turn him into, into a rooster!!"

"Calm down, Miss Temper," Fred chuckled. "We didn't do it to him, or you. The food did."

Hermione cocked an eyebrow. "The food? Really? And who, who _made_ the food do that?"

"We did." Fred indicated George, Lee, and himself with his fingers, a proud smile on his face.

"And yet _you_ didn't just humiliate your brother in front of a room filled with older students?"

"Hermione, Hermione, Her_mione!_ You clearly don't get it. See, that food is for the moochers who come in uninvited. Yes, he did give Meril a present; I see that. However, you two were also uninvited. And I would have stopped you, honestly, but see, George and I wanted to see how it worked out. So now you two are free to get some of the real food; it's in the back, where everyone is, and then leave!"

"Sounds good to me," Ron grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. Meril smiled sympathetically at him; he shrugged in response, then went to go grab some food. Hermione cast the twins one last look before sighing and following him.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"I want to see the invitation," Meril decided. She, Heather, Cedric, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie Bell were all sitting in front of the stage, listening to the obscure music that 'The Hogs' were playing. The three Gryffindor chasers were going back and forth between staring admiringly at each of the band members and staring longingly at Cedric, who seemed awkward and out of place. Heather clung to his arm, resting her head on his shoulder. Her eyes were relaxed shut, and it appeared that she was sleeping.

"I didn't bring mine," Angelina and Alicia both said, barely sparing her a glance. Katie couldn't even be brought to look away from the 'beautiful musicians' on the stage.

Heather grumbled something, but didn't move. Cedric carefully stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a square of parchment. It had clearly been folded a few times, but Meril smoothed it out on the floor before her.

"Thanks, Cedric," she said, smiling up at him. He nodded in reply, absently playing with the ends of Heather's hair.

"'It will begin at ten in the morning, and will end at whatever time you leave,'" Meril read to herself in a whisper. Her lips barely parted, and her fingers traced the words.

"Hey, Cedric?"

The boy slowly lifted his head to look at her. "Yes?"

"Why does it say that the party started at ten o'clock in the morning? I didn't even leave Hogwarts until eleven. And then I didn't get here until, like, one or something. And no one was even here _then_."

Cedric smiled. "Jennifer made these invitations, as you can probably tell. But then she made the mistake of giving them to the twins to send. They wrote some notes on all of the invites." He pointed at the bottom line, and then turned the invitation over. In the middle of the square, it said 'Party will really start at two-fifteen in the afternoon.'

"How did they know that everyone would look at the back?" Meril wondered. Cedric cocked an eyebrow.

"Obviously, they didn't. And there were those that didn't look at the back. I heard people muttering about that. Jeez, Meril, you know them better than I do. You should have known they would try to trick people."

Meril grinned. "Yes, I should have…"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

What time was it? Meril had no clue, but she knew that the party had been going on for a few hours now, and most people had gone back to the castle for the day. But not those who were at the party.

"Can I have everyone's attention, please!" George said loudly, stealing the microphone away from the Slytherin singer. "We noticed that most of the food in the back is gone—and quite a good deal from the front, as well." He paused, grinning as he thought about where that food had gone. "So we decided that it's time to bring out the birthday cake—and the presents. Fred; Lee!"

On cue, the two came out of the two attached rooms. Lee carefully carried the _huge_ birthday cake out into the room, placing it on a table directly in front of the stage. Fred followed behind him, pushing a wheel-barrow of gifts in front of him.

"Candles?"

Lee pointed at the cake, and fifteen candles appeared out of nowhere, making a border for the sheet-cake.

"_Incendio_!" he whispered fifteen different times. One by one, the candles were topped with little flame hats that shimmered and danced, casting a dim light all about the cake.

"Meril?" George called out, searching the room for the petite girl.

"Present!" she called in response. Her hand shot into the air and she was grinning like mad.

"Come on up to the cake now!"

The sea of people parted as Meril and Heather made their way to the front of the room. George jumped down from the stage to join them, narrowly avoiding landing in the cake. He dragged a cushy chair over to the table, placing it right beside it. Then, gently, he took hold of Meril's elbow and led her to the seat.

"Your Majesty," he murmured. He held her hand as she sat, kissing her fingers tenderly and then winking. Meril's face burned and her heart was beating so fast and loud she was afraid that everyone could hear it.

Fred, George, and Lee surrounded the sheet cake, each holding up a wand. Meril glanced at the cake before the destroyed it. It was extremely long and covered in brown icing. The Gryffindor crest was in the center of the cake, surrounded by small symbols representing Meril; a broom, a needle and thread, a cauldron, potion ingredients, a Dungbomb, and a smiley face. Underneath the crest there was a silly quote that she had worn on a shirt once.

She smiled softly at it. They put so much work into this whole thing. It was so unexpected of them; yet, because of that, it was expected. They were always surprising her.

The three boys lowered their wands, and as they did so, the band started up again. What they played was a horribly familiar tune to Meril, and she felt her breath catch in her chest.

_Oh, dear God. Please tell me that they didn't! _Meril desperately thought. She shook her head violently, but no one paid her any heed.

The band continued playing the intro, though it was a little longer and a little more rock-and-roll than normal, and then the singer leaned into the microphone, his fingers still strumming on the guitar.

"_Happy birthday to you_," the Slytherin sang; his voice was beautiful and silky, but even he couldn't make this song sound good. "_Happy birthday to you!_" He paused, rocking out with the guitar as his bandmates continued. "Happy _birthday dear Meril, happy…_"

He stopped, the keyboardist played a solo filled with happy, yet hardcore, notes.

"_To_."

Here, the drummer got his chance to shine.

"_You_."

The bass player shook the walls with his rocking strings.

But the song didn't end there. As soon as the bass player's solo ended, the guitarist/lead vocalist picked it up again with the other three echoing everything he sang. "_I said happy, happy birthday!...Happy birthday to you!...It's your fifteenth birthday!...Happy! Birthday! Tooooo…_"

But before the Slytherin boy could finish up, someone else stole the limelight. "_You!_"

All the heads turned to the older man who had just stepped through the doorway. He had longish blonde hair and was dressed in clothes that looked a bit dirty, but Meril had never been so happy to see him in her life. She jumped from her chair and ran to him, pushing everyone aside as she did so.

"Bradley!" she shrieked.

"Meril! Come here!"

She leapt to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "It's been too long," she commented.

"Yes; it has." Gently, he pushed her away and grinned. "I stumbled in for a drink and I heard these fellows crooning away. It reminded me that tomorrow is your birthday, so I came to check it out. A lucky thing I have been carrying your present around for a while now, eh?"

Meril grinned. "You didn't have to."

"And trust me, he wouldn't have if I hadn't reminded him," Heather said from behind Meril, smirking. "Hey, Brad."

"Come here, sis!" the man ordained Bradley called out. The blonde girl, grinning widely, stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.

"You're disturbing the festivities; come on and settle down, join us!"

"Are you sure that's alright? That uptight chickie by the door was giving me a hard time. I had to force my way in."

"It's fine; right Fred? George?" Meril stared expectantly at the twins. Slowly, they nodded assent. It was obvious, though, by their expressions that they weren't exactly pleased by it.

Bradley and Heather sat down by Meril's chair as the ceremony continued. Cake was passed around—the largest hunk, of course, going to Meril. And then, as they all indulged themselves, Meril received more gifts than she had ever even dreamed of.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Lee had gotten Meril an astronomy set, with star charts, zodiacs, a telescope, and clips from muggle newspapers on horoscopes. Scott Gunderson got her something similar—a divination book on reading the stars to tell your future.

Shane O'Gorman got Meril a whole potion set. There were at least a hundred different ingredients, two books filled with all sorts of potions, a collapsible table with a built-in stove for easy potion-making, and a cauldron.

Oliver, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie Bell all chipped in and bought her a broomstick.

"It's not a Firebolt, but it is the second best broom out there right now," Oliver said as Meril stared in awe at the Nimbus 2001. She ran her hand over the smooth wood and grinned.

"It's perfect."

Then, they each got her another, smaller present. Alicia bought her a cute pair of pajamas—"So you don't have to walk around in boxer shorts and a tee anymore," she explained. Angelina bought her a book of all sorts of short stories. Katie had gotten her a beautiful necklace, and Oliver decided that she should own some stuff to care for her new broom.

Hayley Dobson, Meril's roommate who could sleep through anything, gave her a set of pills that allowed you to control your dreams, as well as a book filled with pre-made dreams. Caitlin Haelstrome, Meril's final roommate whom she always forgot about, got her a set of encyclopedias.

_Wow, I'm sure my trunk will like these,_ Meril thought, forcing a smile at Caitlin, who then left the party, just as the other people whom Meril wasn't friends with were doing.

She ended up getting a lot of the same things; items from Zonko's, the best chocolates and candies from Honeydukes, and a lot of other stuff she was sure she would never use, but appreciated anyway, like teas from Madam Puddifoot and weird knick-knacks.

Most of the party had disappeared by now, leaving only a few people who had decided to stay to see her open her last gifts. There was a sea of wrapping paper and tissue paper around her feet, as well as a couple large sacks of gifts she had received.

The only gifts left were those from Heather and Bradley.

"You go ahead first, Heath. I want mine to be last," Bradley said, giving his sister a little nudge forward. Heather snorted in reply and flipped her hair into his face.

"It doesn't matter if it's last; it won't be special," Heather teased, sticking her tongue out at her older brother. He smirked in response.

"Yeah, we'll see about that."

Heather grabbed her canvas bag and extracted two parcels from it. One was a rather large, box shaped wrapped meticulously in sparkling paper. The other was smaller, rectangular, and looked like it had been crushed a bit, going by the wrinkled paper.

"Here is your birthday gift," she said softly, handing over the large box. Meril smiled back and slowly tore off the paper, dropping it onto the heap on the floor. It was a box, just as she had thought, but inside there was fabric and thread and designs and a How-To-Design-Your-Own-Clothes book. Meril's grin broadened as she looked all through it.

"Heather! This—this is amazing!" she croaked. "I've wanted to do this for so long! I…thank you!"

"Not a problem; I can tell you where I got it all later. But first, you have to open this." She handed her friend the smaller parcel, a sad smile taking over her face.

"It isn't a birthday present," Heather warned, crossing her arms over her chest.

Meril was confused. "Then…what is it?"

"Just open it."

So she did. Meril tore of the paper and removed the small books from the remains, holding it carefully in her hands. The top one was a book filled with wonderful quotes from all sorts of people and occasions. The second was a beautifully bound journal. She opened it and read the note written on the inside cover.

"'To fill with your own thoughts and quotes. Hopefully one day these will be published in a book like the one I gave you, and people like you will wear them on their shirts.'" Meril felt tears prickling in her eyes. She swallowed hard and simply stared at her best friend.

"Heather--" she began, but the blonde cut her off, crossing and uncrossing her arms over her chest.

"I got them both for you in September—when you hurt your arm." She indicated to Meril's still-bandaged arm (why it was still wrapped up, Meril had no clue). "I came to the Hospital Wing, but you were awake and hanging out with the guys, so I…I just couldn't give it to you. I left, but you followed me out anyway." She laughed, rubbing her forehead. "I am such a chicken, aren't I?"

"No; you're not." Meril placed the gifts on her chair and hugged Heather. "Thank you so much; I love it all."

Heather smiled. "I knew you would." Then, turning to her brother, she smirked. "Can you top that, _Bradley_?"

Bradley sighed. "I am not sure. But hey, I can give it a try." He strolled forward, holding his parcel loosely.

"Here."

It was a photo album. Only half of it was filled. All of the pictures were of Meril and Heather, and their families and friends. Fred and George were in a number of them; Lee was in some; Cedric was in a couple; and Angelina and Alicia both made an appearance or two. But for the most part, it was dedicated entirely to Meril and Heather over the years.

"You guys get to fill in the rest," he said. "And maybe, some of those pictures will be taken--" he paused, digging in his pockets for an envelope, "—here."

Inside the crumpled envelope he handed her were two tickets. Meril stared at them curiously, Heather gazing over her shoulder, and then gave out a loud gasp.

"Oh my gosh! Bradley!" she shrieked, throwing her arms in the air. She jumped to her feet and danced over to him, throwing her arms around his neck and pecking him on the cheek. "I can't believe that you—Brad, you are amazing!"

"I know," he wistfully responded, staring into the air.

"Meril—what is it?" Fred asked, cocking an eyebrow and making his way over to them.

"Brad got me and Heather tickets to the Weird Sisters for the end of June! Isn't that amazing?!"

Meril and Heather were absolutely glowing; Fred flashed a smile.

"That is nice," he agreed.

"Well, I hope you two will enjoy them. But I need to go now; the party is ending anyway, it seems." He grinned. "Come here, Heath—give your big brother a kiss."

Heather hugged him, pecked his cheek, and then turned away to go talk to Cedric, who was waiting patiently for her, half-asleep, in a corner.

"Thanks Brad."

"Not a problem."

"I can't imagine what you must have gone through to get them."

He laughed bitterly. "You have no idea. But I thought you deserved a nice birthday present; more than just a scrap book, anyway."

"The scrap book is nice!"

"Well, yes; it is. I take pride in it, but yeah. You know…"

"I do."

"Kiss?"

"Of course!" She pecked his cheek again. "I hope to see you again soon."

"Same here, darling." He smiled. "Good-bye, all! Thanks for having me here! The cake was delicious!"

Fred, George, Lee, and all the others waved good-bye. With that, he apparated right out of there, leaving nothing but some smoke and a ringing in everyone's ears.


	22. The Break in of Sirius Black

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One—  
**The Break in of Sirius Black

* * *

Everyone had gone; even Heather and Lee had eventually disappeared, but not without some convincing. The only ones who remained in Hall 2 were Fred, George, Meril, and The Hogs.

"You really don't have to help us clean up, Meril," Fred informed her for the tenth time since the party ended. Meril glanced over at where he stood, leaning against the wall by the fountain, watching her.

"It's the least I can do—considering," she replied with a shrug. She tried not to notice the way his eyes looked as he stared at her, a smile flickering on and off of his face. So, instead, she concentrated on carefully removing the pictures from the wall. She recognized a great deal of them—after all, most _were_ taken by her mom.

"Considering what?"

"All that you went through to get this party together. It must have taken forever."

"Yeah…you have no idea," Fred whispered. His gaze wandered around the room, finally landing on the band members, who were almost completely packed and ready to go. He stared for a moment before looking back over at Meril. "But it was worth it."

The brunette smiled. "Thanks; I'm glad you think so."

She turned away and continued her task, doing her best to hide the smile she wore on her face and hoping he couldn't tell how his words made her heart swell. _She was worth it_. Just hearing those words made her stomach tie itself in knots.

It was odd having so many copies of herself staring up at her and shout at her in protest as they were shoved into a large envelope to send back to her mom. She felt as if she were locking herself up in a prison cell, and for one crazy moment felt the urge to tape them all back up and just leave them there forever.

However, she didn't have the chance to pursue that because George came out of the present room just then, holding a box in his hands. "Look at this, Fred," he demanded loudly; Fred and Meril both glanced over, and Meril's eyes widened. "Looks like we overlooked a present."

"Well, how did we do that?" Fred wondered. He examined the present carefully, his eyebrows knit tightly together.

"I wonder who it's from?"

"Well, why don't we open it and find out? Meril, come over here, would you?"

Meril happily obliged. She dropped the envelope on the food-cleared table and half-skipped over to the twins. They had dropped down to the floor with the present between them. Meril kneeled before them and watched, waiting.

"Why don't _you_ open it Meril? After all, it is your present," Fred suggested. They both gently nudged the box towards her. Her hands hovered over the ribbon, as if unsure whether or not she should.

"Go on," the boys persisted. They had their hands folded on their laps and stared urgently at her. Meril gave them both odd looks before pulling the box closer to her. First the ribbon came off, then the wrapping paper, and then, lastly, the lid.

Holding her breath, the birthday-girl peered inside. When she caught sight of what was inside, she gasped and jumped back. "Oh!" she screeched. "Oh, my!"

"What's inside?" Fred inquired. He crawled forward and looked inside. When he saw it, he grinned. "Oh, how cute! George, look! A kitten!"

The other twin raised his eyebrows skeptically and looked inside. Spotting the little fur-ball, he smiled softly and lifted it out of the box gently. "She's so soft! Here, Mer—hold her."

With great care, George handed over the kitten. Meril's hands were trembling as she took hold of her. A kitten—for her. Oh, how she used to dream of having one as a kid! And now someone had given her one—but who had known she wanted one?

"Look! There's a card!" Fred exclaimed. He reached into the box and pulled out a slip of parchment. With great authority, he unfolded it and cleared his throat. "'To Meril, Love Fred & George,'" he read aloud, seemingly puzzled.

"Oh! Stupid me! Of course that's the gift from us!" George exclaimed, smacking his forehead with his hand. "How silly of me to have forgotten!"

Meril glared at them, holding the kitten close to her. The little animal purred, burying its face into Meril's chest. Immediately, her glare melted and she was smiling at them. "You guys really didn't have to! I mean, the party must have cost you a _fortune_! And then you went out and bought me this?"

"There's more," Fred interrupted. From behind his back, he pulled out a lumpy package and handed it to her. Meril reluctantly put the little kitten back in the box and took the package in her hands.

"What is it?"

"It's wrapped for a reason, Mer. If I was just going to _tell_ you what it was I would haven't bothered wrapping it. Now go on—open it."

Meril quickly tore the paper off and smiled. There were two animals there—one was a stuffed lion with a big red mane, and the other was a small cub.

"Aw, thanks Fred! It's so cute!" She hugged the animals to her chest and kissed them, then proceeded to kiss Fred on the cheek.

"The cub is for her to play with," he grumbled, staring down at the little kitten. With her big, blue eyes, she stared back and mewed at him, begging to be let out.

"Oh, that's so nice of you to think of her!" Meril exclaimed. She placed the stuffed animals beside her on the floor and lifted her new pet into the air, making kissy faces at her. "What should I name her?"

"How about…Mr. Whiskers?" George innocently suggested.

As one, Fred and Meril turned and stared at him. "Mr.…Whiskers?" Fred choked, doing his best not to laugh.

"She's a _girl_ and you want me to name her _Mr. Whiskers?!_" Meril deadpanned. George shrugged.

"You have to admit that would be funny," he reasoned. "Think about all the questions it would raise."

Fred nodded slowly. "Yeah…That would be great…"

Meril, however, shook her head. "You guys are…weird. She deserves a cuter name. Like…" she paused, staring into space as she absently pet the kitten. Her fingers brushed over something hard and velvety. Frowning, she dug through the fluffy fur to find it—whatever it was.

"Like what?" Fred wondered, waiting for her to continue.

Meril shook her head. "Hang on a minute," she murmured, staring intently at the tiny kitten she held in her hand as she searched her for whatever it was she had felt. Finally, she found it—a white velvet box was attached to her collar. Slowly, she removed it, but before she could open it, George put his hand on hers.

"Open it later; back at the castle," he whispered. Meril furrowed her brow and stared at him, clearly puzzled by this. George shook his head; it was so slight a motion she wasn't even sure she saw it. Then he pressed his finger to his lips.

"I think I like the name," she continued, looking back and forth between the twins, something like confusion on her face, "Pistachio. Yes, Pistachio." She smiled affectionately at the kitten and scratched behind her ears.

"Pistachio," the twins repeated.

Meril quickly looked up at them, her eyes flashing warningly. "Is there something wrong with that name?"

"No," they simultaneously replied. Meril nodded, but remained silent, too lost in playing with her new kitten. The twins stayed with her for a moment, but then Madam Rosmerta popped in, telling them they really needed to get out and get back to the castle. Then they stood and finished cleaning up whatever was left. The Hogs left soon after that, barely uttering a 'good-bye' as they went.

Meril hadn't a clue how much time had passed with her just sitting there, playing with Pistachio and resisting the urge to look inside the white velvet box. But, before she knew it, Fred and George were pulling her to her feet and they were leaving.

The sky was dark; windows were dark; the roads were dark. Meril held Pistachio close to her as she stumbled along the road leading back to Hogwarts, squished between the Weasley twins. Surely, the feast was almost over by now, if not completely finished. She almost let out a sigh, but stopped herself. She had just had one of the best nights of her life; what did she need the feast for.

"You know, you guys really didn't need to get me anything else; the party really was enough! It must have cost you a fortune."

"Well, it certainly cost _someone_ a fortune," Fred muttered; Meril cast him a curious glance.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," George began with a sigh, "we didn't exactly have money when we started this, so someone who knew about it decided to chip in. She basically paid for half of it; possibly more."

"Who is this mysterious woman you speak of?"

"Your mom," Fred bluntly answered. Meril started to chuckle a bit, but, when she saw that Fred's face was completely serious, she immediately wiped the grin off her face.

"Oh. You're serious. I thought you might be making some sort of joke…"

"No, he wasn't. Your mom found out about the party, and knowing our…situation," George blushed such a vivid red that it was clearly visible even in the night, "she decided to help out. She sent us as much money as we needed, and whenever we ran out and couldn't get the funds ourselves, she sent some more. Very nice of her."

"Yes; it was," Fred agreed.

"Yeah…" Meril paused for a moment, her fingers wrapping themselves in Pistachio's soft hairs. "So, Lee said that you guys got some help in planning the party. Can you tell me any more about that?"

"Well, I guess its close enough to her birthday to do that," George reasoned; Fred nodded immediately.

"I think it's odd that she never made the connection," the second twin commented; this time, George nodded.

"What connection? What are you two talking about?" Meril demanded, looking back and forth between the two, her chin sticking out in the air.

"Meril—I'm sure you noticed Jennifer's presence at your party there today, right?" George asked, staring straight into her face. He hoped he would have to say no more and she would just get it, but of course, she didn't.

"Yeah."

"And she clearly wasn't a guest, right? I mean, one—you don't like her, two—neither do we, and three—she was doing stuff for us. Now, usually, hosts and hostesses like their guests and don't have them running around doing things for them, correct?"

"Yes, that is the typical way things go…"

"Now, think about the other times you've seen Jennifer," Fred added; he joined his twin in staring the girl down. She rolled her blue eyes back and bit her lip, thinking carefully. She saw her mostly in Herbology and with the twins…_leaning over a piece of parchment_.

"You hired _Jennifer _to help you?!" she screamed, eyes wide.

"Yes, and we regretted it every moment we spent with her." Fred shuddered, remembering every second—every _day_—he had spent with her when he could have been off doing something else.

"However," George sighed, as if it killed him to defend her in any way, "she did know what she was doing, and she didn't ask for much money in return. Just a 'little cooperation and credit will pay for the rest.' She makes me sick—but she organized things—like getting the band—and had a few good ideas…"

"And then we kept her around to check off the people who came just to torture her," Fred chuckled maniacally. "Sadly, it was torturous for the rest of us as well, but seeing the look on her face was worth it."

Meril laughed, remembering her pained expression when George told her to stick around as a 'bouncer.' And the way she looked as she stood, slouching against the wall, while waiting for more people to show up was priceless. She just hoped that she would never have to see Jennifer again, except in passing.

"So…that was what that parchment was for?"

"Yup," the two replied in unison. Each returned to either side of her and they continued their journey up to the castle, silent now that Meril knew everything they had promised to tell her.

Meril smiled satisfactorily. Finally, now things could be back to normal. That parchment was gone for good this time. And as much as she loved what it had resulted in, she was glad it was gone. That thing had caused her so much turmoil and grief. Now it was all behind them, and they could move on. She pressed the velvet box into her palm and smiled.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

By the time the three got back to the castle, the Halloween feast was just finishing—just as Meril was afraid it would. She frowned briefly, but then remembered that she was stuffed with delicious food already. She held her kitten closer to her, glad that Pistachio was all she had to carry since Madam Rosmerta promised to send the rest to her dorm. Yeah, that might take a while—depending, of course, on the mode of transportation she decided to use.

"You haven't opened it yet, have you?" George muttered, leaning ever so slightly towards Meril. Meril knit her eyebrows together and gave the box a squeeze.

"No; of course not. Why are you whispering?"

George's hazel eyes shot quickly to the side, past Meril, to where Fred stood, rolling his eyes with Lee about some Slytherin who stood nearby, having just exited the Great Hall.

Meril cocked a brow, and then her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. "He doesn't know what you got me?"

George shook his head; it was so slight a motion that Meril wasn't sure that she hadn't simply imagined it.

"You tell each other _everything_ though!" Meril hissed, leaning closer to George, doing her best to make sure Fred was completely blocked from the conversation.

George shrugged. "You will understand why I…didn't tell him--when you open it."

"No; I don't think I will. You two tell each other everything. Why not this? It's just a birthday present, isn't it? Why so secretive? I mean, it isn't as if it's for him!"

George simply shrugged and said, "You'll know why when you open it." And with that, he smiled at Meril and walked over to where his twin was laughing raucously with Lee over something stupid said about the Slytherin.

Meril watched absently as she stroked the soft fur of her new kitten; Pistachio. She loved the name; she loved the cat; she loved that the twins had gotten her the little furball. That was all she really wanted to think of at that moment. For once, she didn't care what was going on with Fred, George, and Lee—what it was they were laughing about. The only things on her mind were the kitten—and her gift from George. She had a vague idea what it could be, going solely by the box itself, but she desperately wanted to see it.

"Guys—let's head up. I'm really tired," Meril suggested, stifling a yawn. Her three friends all looked over at her at once and smirked.

"You're just looking forward to waking up and it being your birthday, aren't you?" Fred asked; it was what they all suspected.

"No!" Meril replied, scoffing. "That's just absurd! No!"

Of course, she was quite looking forward to it being her birthday, and she always loved falling asleep as early as possible on Halloween—unlike others, who loved to stay up until the wee hours of the night--, so she could wake up earlier and have a full birthday. But really, she hadn't even thought of that before Fred said it. She actually was tired, and she wanted to open George's present.

"Ha!" Lee barked, throwing his head back. "Right. And I'm a Weasley!"

"You hang out with them enough," Meril forced herself to say; she needed to try to find some way it could be. Because, in actuality, Lee could never be a Weasley. No one would ever suspect them of being related. Lee was dark haired, dark eyed, and dark skinned, whereas the Weasley's all had fair skin, light eyes, and flaming red hair—as everyone in the Wizarding world was aware of.

Lee stared blankly at her as Fred and George keeled over in laughter. "Seriously?" was all Lee said, in a disbelieving sort of voice. "You seriously just said that?"

Meril blinked. "Yes?"

"You think I could be a Weasley just by hanging out with them a lot? You do, too! That doesn't make _you_ a Weasley, does it?"

"Well…No," Meril began slowly. "But I see no resemblance between me and any of them. You, on the other hand—well, it's uncanny!"

As Fred and George were dying in the background, Lee stared blankly at Meril. He opened his mouth twice to say something, deciding against it both times. He then shook his head and walked off towards the Gryffindor Tower. Meril hurried after him, grinning broadly to herself as she heard the twins still guffawing behind her.

When we arrived at the tower, the three of us were still joking around, and, as a consequence of this, did not notice that there was a sort of traffic jam outside the portrait hole.

As soon as they were silent for a moment—just one, small breath's worth—they noticed, though, that there was something up. No one was going in the portrait hole, and everyone was talking, each asking the same, confused question.

"Why isn't anyone going in?" Fred asked, louder than anyone else. Silence answered him, and he got no answer by craning his neck to see over the crowd.

"Maybe Meril could push to the front," he suggested with a wry smile. "No one would notice."

Meril pursed her lips. "If that is a joke about my size, I am terribly offended."

In response, he grinned.

"Meril—get onto my shoulders," George suggested. He got down onto one knee, and left the other up so she could boost herself up. Meril looked at him as if he was crazy.

"Is this really the time for a piggyback ride, George?"

"I don't know _what_ kind of time it is, that's why I want you to get onto my shoulders—to look." He paused and considered what Meril had said. "And it's always a good time for a piggy-back ride, in my opinion."

Meril couldn't help but smile at his comment, not to mention the sloppy grin he had on his face as he said it. It made his eyes sparkle. She couldn't help staring at them. He saw her and winked.

"So? Are you going to?"

But, before Meril could answer, Percy Weasley came shoving between them authoritively. Meril glared at his back, and the twins made rude gestures, but of course, he didn't even think to look back at them, because he hadn't even noticed who it was he had so rudely shoved to the side.

"Le me through, please," Percy shouted over the noise as he forcefully made his way through the crowd. He somehow managed to, not only project his voice, but also to keep it steady and important sounding.

"What's the holdup here? You can't all have forgotten the password—excuse me, I'm Head Boy--" Percy the Pompous stopped abruptly, and Meril instantly knew that something really must be wrong. Percy would _never_ stop in the middle of his 'I'm Head Boy—respect me' speech. Even if those he was speaking to had all left, he would say it through until the well-rehearsed words had been finished.

After collecting his wits—he must have been just as surprised by his ability to actually _cease talking_ as Meril was—he said in a sharp voice, "Somebody get Dumbledore. Quick."

Everyone's head was turning, trying to see what was going on. Those in the back—such as the twins, Meril, and Lee, whom they had finally found—were trying to see over everyone by going on tiptoe. Meril didn't bother.

"_Now_ will you get on my shoulders?" George huffed, exasperated by his failed attempts at seeing what was going on.

"Gladly." She handed Pistachio carefully to Fred then turned towards the other twin.

George kneeled, and Fred and Lee helped Meril get up onto his shoulders, Fred being extremely careful with the kitten in his arms. Meril wrapped her arms around his neck, and he latched onto her ankles, and then slowly got to his feet.

"Can you see anything?" he asked hopefully. He, Fred, and Lee were all counting on her to give them the scoop, but there were so many people crowded around the portrait hole that it was difficult for her to see much of anything.

She did, however, see Dumbledore gracefully make his way through the crowd, and then, since people had cleared away a bit, she could see something shocking.

The Fat Lady was no longer in her portrait guarding the hole. In her place on the canvas, there were slashes and chunks were missing from the painting. Bits of canvas littered the floor like confetti.

Dumbledore's inspection of the portrait was very brief. He then turned and saw three more professors hurrying towards him—McGonagall, Lupin, and Snape.

"We need to find her. Professor McGonagall, please go to Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady," Dumbledore ordered in his quiet, somber voice.

"Meril! What's going on?! We can barely hear!" Fred hissed.

"Shh!" Meril hissed back. "I'm trying to listen. I'll tell you when I come down!"

She looked back at the scene, and suddenly Peeves the Poltergeist was there, and he had obviously just said something, though Meril didn't know what. Dumbledore was staring at him in a completely relaxed way, quite unlike everyone else, who always appeared terrified or annoyed before him.

"What do you mean, Peeves?" Dumbledore asked. Peeves stopped looking so jolly as he realized who he was talking to.

"Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful." In his sleazy voice, he sounded almost happy to be delivering the news. He appeared to notice this and unconvincingly added, "Poor thing."

"Did she say who did it?" Dumbledore inquired lightly.

"Oh yes, Professorhead," Peeves replied; his voice was dripping with oil, and Meril knew that the news he was about to deliver wasn't going to be good at all. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see." Here, he flipped over in the air and, from between his legs, grinned at Dumbledore. His grin was a nasty one, showing all of his teeth and extending all the way to his ears. It was big, but it certainly wasn't nice, like one of the twins' grins. It was taunting; evil; aggressive. "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The Gryffindors were sent back to the Great Hall immediately. Meril had no time to climb down from George's shoulders, so she remained there, leaning over to explain to Fred, George, and Lee what had been going on, because they hadn't been able to catch it all.

Their eyes all got wide as she explained it to them; George nearly lost his balance, but regained it just before Meril could fall off.

"Sirius Black got into the castle?" he asked hoarsely. They were in the Great Hall now, and Fred and Lee helped Meril get down off of George's shoulders.

"That's what Peeves said," Meril confirmed as Fred transferred her furball of a kitten back to her hands. "And he tore up the Fat Lady's portrait because she wouldn't let him in." She paused. "What does he want here, anyway?"

Her friends stared at her disbelievingly. "You really don't know?"

Meril shook her head. "I told you, my mom doesn't get the _Daily Prophet_. She says that if anything important is going on, she will find out when she needs to know." The brunette shrugged. "So?"

The three males exchanged looks, and then George said, "The papers say that there is someone here that he wants to kill. Some say it's Dumbledore, since there are no specifics in the papers, only that it's a male. But we heard our dad say that it's probably Harry he's after. That's the second most popular guess. It makes more sense than Dumbledore, though. I mean…why would Dumbledore be in the Gryffindor Tower?"

Meril's mouth opened, and then closed tightly. Of course, he was after Potter. A small part of her—her jealousy--wanted Sirius Black to succeed, but most of her was scared for him. That would just be…awful, really. She hated him, but for him to die at the hands of a cold-blooded murderer like that?

She shuddered. "That's awful," she whispered. Her eyes were wide as saucers, and she was suddenly white. To her relief, none of her friends made a remark about their surprise that she thought so; they all knew, after all, about her hatred of 'The Potter Boy.'

"I really do need to start getting the _Prophet_," she said. Then she turned away and looked around the Great Hall as she absently stroked Pistachio's soft fur. All of Gryffindor was in there, but she easily found him. Harry was standing with Ron and the bushy-haired girl, Hermione, sort of away from everyone else. They spoke in hushed tones, their heads close together.

Just as Meril was turning, someone attacked her from the side. She went stumbling, but the person held on, yammering in her ear. "Oh, my God, Meril! That is just _so_ scary! I have never been so glad not to be a Gryffindor in my life!"

Pistachio mewed as she was jostled, and Meril glared sharply at her best friend. Then, regaining her composure, Meril pried herself away from Heather and stared curiously at her. "What are you doing here?"

Heather shrugged. "Professor Sprout said it would all be explained once everyone got here." She looked around. "Blimey, that's a lot of people! Sprout didn't say who everyone was, seems to me that just about everyone is here now."

And she was right. Dumbledore swept forward with a few teachers around him, the others all closing the doors into the hall. "The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle," Dumbledore told the students. "I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbances should be reported to me immediately." Dumbledore was looking at Percy, whose head had tripled in size with the authority, as he spoke. "Send word wit one of the ghosts."

The Headmaster paused and was about to leave the hall to continue the search, but then remembered something. "Oh, yes, you'll be needing…" He waved his wand, and all the tables flew to the side of the hall, and hundreds of purple sleeping bags took over the floor space.

"Sleep well," Dumbledore ordered, and then left, closing the door behind him.

Immediately after his departure, the school went out of control. The Gryffindors were excitedly telling the other houses what had happened. Heather was pouting about having to keep guard while she begged Meril to tell her what happened.

"I just finished telling those buffoons," Meril grumbled. "I really just want to go to sleep." With a large yawn, she turned and went to go find the best sleeping bag. Heather followed like a lost puppy, all the while begging Meril to tell her. Pistachio had already fallen asleep, purring in Meril's hands.

"I'm sure Fred, George, or Lee could tell you."

"But _they_ didn't see any of it! You did!"

Meril shrugged. "If I don't have to come stand by you, then maybe I will consider telling you. Now help me find a good sleeping bag."

Heather stared blankly at her. "They're all over. Just take one. It doesn't matter—no one else is going to bed yet."

Just then, Percy shouted, "Everyone into their sleeping bags! Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!"

"Of course," Meril grumbled. Percy _would_ say that right then. She sat down on the nearest sleeping bag and curled up inside it. She really was tired, and knew that, as soon as Heather would allow it, she'd be fast asleep. After opening George's present, of course.

Heather sat down on Meril's sleeping bag and stared intently at her. "Well? You going to tell me or what?"

"Will you let me go to sleep if I say yes?"

Heather nodded. "I am going to have to go keep guard after that, anyway."

"Fine."

Meril sat up and explained for the second time exactly what she had heard and seen. Heather listened intently, her eyes bugging out of their sockets in disbelief.

"That's terrible!" she exclaimed. "How do you think he even got in? I mean, it isn't as if he could have apparated, or flown in or anything. Maybe a disguise…I don't know." She paused. "Do you think someone helped him?"

Meril cocked a brow. "Like who? Who would _honestly_ want a mass-murderer loose in the castle? And do you _really_ think that the dementors would just let him just mosey right on by? No! He probably used some method that no one would think of, or know of or something. He's a crafty one, that Sirius Black."

Heather nodded somberly. "That he is."

The two sat silently with one another for a moment, as everyone settled into a sleeping bag. Then, with a sigh, Heather jumped to her feet.

"I've got my duties to attend to now. I'll see you in the morning." The blonde blew her best friend a kiss, and then traipsed off to her post with the other fifth year, Hufflepuff prefect.

With Heather gone, Meril gently placed Pistachio on her pillow and pulled the white velvet box from her pocket. She rubbed her thumb along its side and smiled. Whatever it was, she knew that she would love it.

So, with one last careful look around to make sure no one was watching her, she opened the box.

Meril gasped as her eyes focused in on it. It was a ring, just as she thought it might be, but it was far more exquisite than she ever could have imagined. It was made of white gold. The band was braided and came together as a very detailed rose. Each petal had a small diamond on it. It was breathtaking, sparkling more than a thousand suns could. Meril's hands shook as she took it out and slid it onto her fingers. It fit her perfectly, and she had to admit, it looked good on her hand. It was a delicate ring; not large and chunky like her swan ring, but average sized and feminine.

Meril could just stare at it forever, but before she could even start to, Percy turned off the light and ordered everyone to go to sleep. It got turned off too early for her to see the note George had stuck inside the box. And because of that, she wouldn't discover the words it told until much, much later.

* * *

**a/n** Sorry this is moving kind of slowly! It's already chapter 21 and it is still only Halloween. And the chapters are so long. Lol. I am sorry. I am trying to get it to move faster but it's so hard xD There is so much I want to happen and everything. So I hope you have been enjoying. I have three more chapters already written. And I am working on Chapter 25. It is comng along VERY slowly, so it may be a while....


	23. Birthday Wishes

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Two—  
**Birthday Wishes

* * *

The students were woken early the next morning so that the tables could be put back into place and they could eat. The prefects, Head Boy and Girl, and teachers were all sent around to wake the students up. Percy had barely tapped Meril's shoulder before she shot right up. Her eyes were bright, and she was grinning.

"Good morning, Percy!" she chirped, catching Percy off guard. The Head Boy blinked at her, then smiled hesitantly in return. Meril was never so pleasant with him. It wasn't that she was horrible to him, as the twins were, but she just…ignored him.

"Good morning, Meril," he replied. He sounded like a normal person for once—simply greeting an old friend. Then he got a hold of himself and said in a clipped tone, "Hurry along and get up. The Headmaster wants to have breakfast, and he can't very well do that with hundreds of sleeping students. Come now!"

Meril was about to sigh and call something out after him, but bit her tongue. It was her birthday. There was no way—no _way_—she was going to allow herself to get angry or upset at **anyone**. It was _her day_.

With a bright smile, Meril touched the ring George gave her, and then turned to pick up Pistachio, who had slept on Meril's pillow the night before. However, Pistachio had disappeared, leaving just a small pile of fur in her place.

Panic immediately swelled inside of her, but she bit it back. It was her birthday. _Nothing_ could go wrong today! It was against the rules! So she simply took a deep breath, stood tall, and weaved carefully through the sleeping bags to look for her kitten.

"EVERYONE, BE CAREFUL OF A LITTLE WHITE KITTEN, PLEASE!" She hollered at the top of her lungs. "She has wandered off, and if anyone steps on her, she could be crushed!" Meril cast a meaningful look at a bunch of rather bulky people nearby. "Especially some of you ogres in Slytherin. Yeah, I'm talking to you guys."

With that said, and just about the rest of the school woken up because of Meril's loudness—except for Hayley Dobson, who slept soundly in the center of the room with five people trying to wake her—Meril continued her search for the puff-ball.

"Morning, Meril!" Fred groggily exclaimed, slapping her on the back. "Couldn't find you last night; you disappeared." He stifled a yawn and hastily threw in, "Happy Birthday, by the way."

Meril smiled distractedly at him. "Yes, yes. Thank you. Now could you help me search for Pistachio?"

Fred blinked and yawned again. "Who?"

"The cat, Fred," George answered, showing up out of nowhere. He was yawning even more widely than his brother, and his hair was on all ends. "Pistachio is the cat Meril woke us all up shouting about; the cat _we_ got her." He looked tiredly at Meril and added, "Happy birthday."

"Oh. Damn us!" Fred exclaimed, not giving Meril time to respond. "We could still be sleeping if it wasn't for that bloody cat."

Meril's face blanched. "Oh, I do hope she isn't bloody…If someone has stepped on her…" She shook her head and rushed off, calling out the little kitten's name. Fred and George grudgingly followed after her.

Thankfully, they didn't have to search much further.

Meril walked carefully, her eyes constantly flickering back and forth as she inspected the area for anything white. Fred and George did much the same, not sure what else they could do and secretly mocking her. So none of them saw that there were two people standing in their path, their attention everywhere but where it needed to be.

"Excuse me, Meril," a vaguely familiar voice said. Meril's head shot up, and she came to a sudden halt, coming very short of running the boy in front of her down.

"Oh. Hi…Shane," Meril greeted, smiling fleetingly at him. She moved to turn back around and continue the search for her precious kitten, but Shane O'Gorman indiscreetly cleared his throat. Meril turned back and stared at him, her eyebrows raised.

"_Hi_ Shane. Can I help you with something?"

Shane smiled ironically at her and shook his head so that his neat black hair fell across his forehead and hung in his bright eyes. "No. But I believe I can help you. I just saw a white fuzzball, and I think it might be the kitten you announced missing…"

Meril blinked slowly and stared at him; he stared right back, not quite expecting her to register it all right away, but thinking it really shouldn't take so long. Eventually, the brunette shook her head violently and blinked again.

"Sorry! I spaced out there! You said you saw Pistachio?"

"Is that your cat?"

"…Yes…."

"Then yes!"

"Lead the way!"

Meril and the twins followed the forgettable boy through the maze of plush purple sleeping bags until they had entered an area where the sleeping bags had already been cleared up. There, few people had stayed, instead moving to sleeping bags that still remained. However, a handful of people had stayed around, too lazy to move.

One such person was a sandy-haired boy whom Meril recognized from the night before. He was leaning against the wall, his head over his lap as he look down at something. Shane led Meril over to this boy as Fred and George both continued to follow.

As they closed in on the sandy-haired boy, Meril registered the white on his lap. At the same moment, he looked up and grinned at the birthday-girl.

Meril blinked in shock, nearly staggering backwards. This guy was the Slytherin from the band that had played at her party last night. She stared distrustfully at him, and he winked.

"I'm assuming this precious kitten is yours?" He eventually said, when Meril and the others stayed silent.

"Yes. She's mine…" Meril answered stiffly. She didn't move a muscle, instead just staring at the band member and her kitten, who was rubbing up against him.

The Slytherin cocked a brow at her. "Well? Do you want her back or not? Because if you don't, I will happily keep her. I don't know; do you think she would go along with this? She seems to like me well enough."

Meril glared down at him, her jaw tightening as she bit back a remark. "Yes, of course I want to keep her. Now hand her back to me."

"What's the rush? No introductions have even been made yet!" The Slytherin exclaimed. The grin he wore was rather cocky, and Meril didn't like it one bit.

"You already know my name."

"Aye, so I do," the sandy-haired boy replied, nodding solemnly. "Miss Meril Lizlow. Yes, yes. I know of you. I must say, my house doesn't like you very much. But I try not to listen to them much." He paused, stroking Pistachio's feathery fur tenderly. "But I was talking more about the kitten and myself. See, I do not believe you know my name, since you didn't greet me when you saw me—and I know you recognize me." There was that cocky grin again. "And I know for a fact that I don't know this lovely kitten's name. So how about it? We exchange names, and I give her back."

Meril pursed her lips and nodded. "Okay. Let's start with you, Slytherin. What's your name."

The boy shook his head and made a disapproving sound with his tongue. "Now, now. Don't say 'Slytherin' like that. Makes me think you don't like me, just because of my house. If you aren't going to like me, at least have a good reason for it!"

Meril's eyebrow ticked; she tightened her lips. It was her birthday. Her birthday. Nothing was going to ruin that—especially not some annoying, arrogant, obnoxious, Slytherin prat.

"Very good, Miss Lizlow." He gave her a Chesire Cat grin. "Now, my name is Caleb Stinson." He extended his hand and stared expectantly at Meril. Reluctantly, Meril took his hand and gave it a firm shake.

"Caleb Stinson," she repeated.

"That's me!" He beamed. "Now, either you hate the name, or you hate the name. Which is it?"

Meril shook her head. "I don't hate either. I just…dislike the person, because he is being obnoxious to me."

"And on her birthday no less!" George exclaimed, aghast.

Caleb Stinson cocked his eyebrows at Meril. "Ah, so today is your actual birthday? Well, may I be the first to wish you a Happy day."

"Third, actually," Fred quickly corrected. "George and I already wished her a Happy Birthday."

Caleb smirked. "No first. You two wished a 'Happy Birthday.' I didn't say that, did I? I said 'Happy day.' Now, that could be for today, as it most likely was, but for all you know, I was wishing her a happy day next week. I wasn't very specific." The smile he flashed the twins was wry; he looked quite pleased with himself.

Fred and George smiled thinly back at him, then turned to Meril and stared at her, their eyes saying quite plainly—'Just-introduce-the-cat-and-let's-get'-out-of-here.'

"Yes, yes, thank you," Meril dismissively replied, acknowledging the twins' looks with a nod. "Now, Caleb, I would like to introduce you to my cat, Pistachio."

"You are being politically incorrect saying you would 'like' to introduce me, since I know you don't _really_ want to introduce me. You just feel pressured to because you think that I wouldn't give her back otherwise, because that's what I said. However, that is untrue. I really am not that kind of guy." He paused. "But I will accept that. Here you go, Miss Lizlow—Pistachio."

Caleb Stinson exhibited great care as he handed the pocket-sized kitten over to Meril. She couldn't help but grin as she once again held Pistachio in her hands. "Thanks, Stinson," she said coolly. Then, kissing the kitten's small head, she swung around. "Come on, Fred; George; Shane. Let's go get some breakfast. They've already set up the tables." She got two mumbles of assent, but no third. She paused and looked over her shoulder. There was Fred and George, but Shane seemed to have disappeared, probably when she and Caleb were talking. Oh, well. She didn't really care. She had just invited him along because she thought he was there, and he had led her back to her cat. It was only polite.

"Meril, come on! We're hungry!" Fred whined. He and George had stepped in front of her, and were impatiently waiting for her to snap out of her daze.

"Right! Breakfast!" Meril exclaimed. She held Pistachio close to her chest and then skipped off to her Birthday Breakfast.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Heather was exhausted from standing guard all night, but she managed to be perky in the morning as she sat down next to Meril, dragging Cedric along with her and seating him on her other side.

"Happy Birthday, Mer!" the blonde chirped.

"Happy Birthday, Meril," Cedric echoed, smiling slightly at his girlfriend's best friend. Meril grinned back at them both in return.

"Thank you!" Meril exclaimed. "Have either of you met Pistachio?"

"Your kitten?" Heather asked, stifling a yawn. "Yeah, we were introduced to one another last night? Isn't that right, sweetie?" she cooed, scratching the kitten under her chin; Pistachio purred.

"I haven't," Cedric answered. He piled some breakfast onto his plate, and then looked over at Meril. "When did you get her?"

"Last night! Fred and George got her for me; isn't she just the most precious thing?"

Cedric nodded awkwardly. "Yeah; she's…cute."

Heather rolled her eyes and leaned towards Meril to whisper, "Don't worry; he does think that. He just hates to use that word. _Trust_ me. He gets so embarrassed whenever he says it about me!"

She and Meril both snickered together for a moment, but then Meril's growling stomach interrupted. She scowled as Heather's mouth twitched and nostrils flared.

"Well ex-_cuuuuuuse_ me for being hungry!" Meril grumbled. She took a forkful of her pancakes and stuffed them in her mouth. Heather, upon seeing this, promptly turned away to give Cedric her attention.

"You're excused!" Lee cheerfully exclaimed. "Happy Birthday, by the way! You are finally fifteen; how does it feel?"

"Excellent! But, it's so much better now that I've seen you," Meril answered; she hid her sarcasm very well with a sweet smile. "Your face has completed my birthday. I am ready to go to sleep now; my day just couldn't get better."

Lee nodded, grinning. "You know, I feel the _same way_ every morning when I look in the mirror!"

Meril shook her head. "There's just something about you, Lee."

"You know, Angelina says the same thing to me _all the time_! I just don't think she means it as positively as you do."

Meril laughed. "No, she probably doesn't." She chuckled and fed Pistachio a bit of sausage, which she hungrily gobbled right up. She grabbed Heather's unused glass, filled it with a bit of milk, and then set it carefully on the bench. Then she carefully placed the kitten beside it, who struggled to lap it up.

"Where is that girl, anyway?" Meril wondered out loud.

Heather shrugged. "Who knows? Wherever she is, though, Alicia is with her. Those two are always together," she airily replied. Heather and Angelina tolerated each other, but neither was really fond of the other. Angelina thought that Heather was conceited, and Heather found Angelina to be too straightforward, and, therefore, annoying.

"Yes, they are. They are Double-A after all. You know, they're kind of like the female versions of Fred and George in that regard, wouldn't you say?"

The twins perked up at the mention of their names. "What did you say?"

"We're just comparing you two to 'Double-A'—you know, Angelina and Alicia. So far, all we've come up with is that you two are inseparable, and so are they," Heather replied, smiling dryly at them as she took a bite of bacon.

"Yeah….good luck finding more similarities…"

"Thanks, George! We need all the support we can get!" Meril exclaimed, grinning widely. George rolled his eyes at her and turned away, continuing the conversation he was having Fred about the best qualities of a Filibuster Firework. The brunette then turned to Heather, who was watching her with amusement, and said in an undertone, "I don't know of any more similarities; do you?"

Heather shook her head. "No; I think that's pretty much it. I think you and I have more things in common with those two than Double-A does. Like, for example, we are hilarious and _gorgeous._ Don't you agree, Cedric?"

Cedric started at the mention of his name (though he didn't even notice his girlfriend just called the twins gorgeous), dropping his fork into his lap. Pistachio made a jerking movement, and leaned forward as if she were about to dart onto his lap as well, but Meril scooped her up in her arms before she could.

"Uh…sure? I…I really don't know." Cedric shrugged uncomfortably and glanced back at his plate, avoiding eye contact. Heather giggled and kissed his cheek.

"He gets so embarrassed about everything," she whispered to Meril. "It's so adorable!"

Meril smiled and looked away. She hated the way her heart wrenched when she saw them together. Not because she liked Cedric in that way or anything, but because _she_ wanted that. She wanted to have a boyfriend who she was completely and totally in love with, and vice versa. She cast a sidelong glance across the table, where Fred and George were still discussing things and laughing with Lee. She sighed, and looked away, back to Heather, who was looking back at her with a mysterious smile tucked away on her face.

"You okay there, Mer?" she asked, biting back the laughter she had inside her.

"I'm fine!" Meril answered truthfully. "It's my birthday! Everything is, as it always is on my birthday, wonderful! Why do you ask?"

Heather shrugged. "Nothing; nothing! You know me! I like to randomly ask people how they're doing!" She twisted around in her seat and reached across the aisle to tap a young Hufflepuff on the shoulder. The girl turned around and blinked, frightened. "Hey, there, sweetie! Are you okay? How are you doing?"

"F-fine. I'm a bit tired, bu--"

"Yeah, that's great! I'm tired, too!" Heather interrupted. She then turned back around and grinned at Meril. "See?"

Meril stared blankly back at her friend. "Wow. You—you like scaring little kids! That's interesting! I just hope you don't get, like, arrested or something. Because then I wouldn't talk to you anymore; you are aware of that, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. I remember the conversation very well. But, I never thought you would be able to actually direct that threat at me. Not until I had already used it on you several times, anyway." Heather sighed dramatically and pushed her food around her plate. "Wow, way to make me feel lousy on your birthday, Meril!"

Meril grinned wickedly in return. "That's what you get for being weird to little people."

"The way I see it," someone interrupted, coming and sitting down on Meril's free side, "is that you two are _both _being very weird. Did someone sneak something into the Pumpkin juice this morning?" Alicia cocked her eyebrow and stared at the two as Angelina rolled her eyes.

"No, no. That's just Meril and Heather being…Meril and Heather," Angelina bluntly replied. Though Meril noticed as she watched the Chaser dish up her breakfast, she avoided the pumpkin juice; so did Alicia. "Besides, they have always gotten especially loopy on birthdays."

"Oh! Yes! Happy birthday, Meril!" Alicia exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air. "I can't believe I didn't say that right away! I'm sorry!"

Meril laughed. "It's fine! Thank you!"

Alicia and Heather stared expectantly at Angelina (as Lee, thankfully, refrained from joining in). Angelina stared coolly back at Heather, ignored Alicia, and then, clearing her throat, smiled and said. "Happy birthday, Meril!"

"Thank you, Angelina. You have now completed my morning!"

Lee's head jerked so quickly towards Meril she was surprised it didn't fly off. "I thought _I_ did that!" he accused, feigning hurt.

"You did! You did," Meril soothed, reaching across the table to stroke his arm. "You completed my day in general; Angelina just made my _morning_ perfect. You see the difference?"

Lee stared blankly at her. "Actually, n--"

"You _see_ the difference?" Meril stared demandingly at Lee, her eyes wide as saucers. He quickly nodded in agreement.

"Yes! I do!"

Heather rolled her eyes. "You two take your jokes too seriously."

"They do," Fred agreed, nodding knowingly—as if he had been a part of the conversation the whole time.

"And you know you're in serious trouble when Fred says that," Alicia commented lowly.

"Yes, you two do!" George exclaimed, continuing Fred's thought. "Jokes are _not_ supposed to be taken_ **seriously**_, are they now, Fred?"

Fred was solemn as he shook his head. "No. Never seriously; always slightly."

"You guys are—" Heather began laughingly, only to be interrupted by Meril as she spotted the owls coming in to make their morning deliveries.

"Look! Owls! Owls, guys! Do you know what that means?!"

"That there will probably be poop in someone's food this morning…?" Lee suggested unsurely. This earned him quite a number of blank and disgusted stares from the people surrounding him.

"No. No, Lee; that was not _quite_ what I was thinking. But thanks for ruining my appetite. Now I'm not going back for any more food. Thanks; thanks for that."

"Yes, thank you!" Fred exclaimed, patting his friend enthusiastically on the back. "There just might be some left for everyone else to have seconds!"

Meril glared at him, and then looked back at the owls, several of which were coming towards Meril and company. "It means," she continued, "that I am about to get a letter from my mom!"

"Wow. That's a long letter…" Alicia commented weakly as nine owls settled down around Meril.

Meril chuckled. "Yeah, it is." She paused. "There's no way that this is _all_ for me! You should all check to see if any of it is for you."

So, Meril sat back and finished her breakfast while all of her friends checked the names on the envelopes. Meril noticed that Heather was the only one to untie a letter from the leg of an owl, and Meril was a bit relieved that there was at least _one_ letter not for her, but then Heather discreetly slipped it onto her lap. Meril looked curiously at her, but Heather gave her head a slight shake.

"They are all for you," Angelina announced.

"Well, I don't know why anyone thought they wouldn't be," Cedric said, surprising everyone. He was so quiet around them usually! It was odd that he should speak when he hadn't been spoken to first. "It _is _her birthday, after all. And the owls did all come to her."

He gave a good point, and no one bothered to argue.

And, speaking of the owls, they were all getting agitated by the fact that they were still standing there with parcels tied to their legs, _and_ they hadn't received any thanks. Meril hastily untied each of the letters and gave the nine owls a bit of toast. Then, one by one, they flew off, and Meril put all of the letters into her robe pocket.

"Aw, you aren't going to open them now?" Alicia disappointedly asked. Clearly, she had been looking forward to what they said. Meril shook her head though.

"No. I want to finish eating first. Then I'll go read them afterwards; somewhere quiet so that I can really appreciate what they wrote." She paused. "I don't even know who all wrote to me. I didn't think to check."

No one else had, either, it seemed. They had all been too busy checking to see if they were, in fact, for Meril, to see who the letters were from. Except for Heather. And Meril was thankful to Heather for that, because she herself had caught a glimpse of who that letter was from. And that was part of the reason she was going to wait until she was out of the public eye to read her mail.

Because it was hers.

Because it was personal.

Because she didn't want everyone—especially the twins—to see who was writing to her.

Because that person was Steve.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"Well, I am going to go read my letters now!" Meril exclaimed. She grinned excitedly at her friends as she excused herself from the table.

"Okay, we'll see you later!" Alicia assured her. Meril nodded in acknowledgment. She then gave Heather a gentle nudge and hurried out of the Great Hall with her hand enclosed around the envelopes.

She had just made it to the Entrance Hall and was going to go outside when someone caught her arm and spun her around. It was George. He was looking down at her and smiling cautiously. Meril spotted nervous curiosity in his speckled eyes, and she felt her stomach plummet.

_Either he saw the envelope and wants to know who Steve is,_ she thought, her heart racing, _or he is going to kiss me._

Honestly, Meril really wanted it to be the second one, and she hated to even think that.

However, neither happened. George let go of her arm and ruffled his bangs, then smiled again.

"I see you opened the ring," he observed. His grin faltered a bit, and he stared almost expectantly at Meril as he bounced from foot to foot. Meril, unsure why he was acting so strangely, took his hands between hers and smiled broadly up at him.

"Yeah! I did! And I love it! George, it is so beautiful! I don't ever want to take it off!"

George stared back down at her, waiting for her to add more. When all she did was smile, though, he gave a sigh.

"Good. I'm…I'm glad."

"Where did you get it? I've never seen anything like it before!"

George shrugged. "Just a jewelry shop sort of close to my house. My mom shops there when she's looking for something nice."

Meril nodded, her grin widening. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She got up onto her toes and gave him a peck on the cheek, squeezing his hands. It took just about everything she had not to press her lips against his, rather than his cheek. "It's…amazing. I never would have expected for anyone to get me anything like this for my birthday—this one or any other!"

George shrugged. "Well, you know…"

"That you are probably the sweetest guy I will ever meet? Yeah, I'm aware." She laughed. "Anyway! I don't think that you finished your breakfast. Go on back! I'm just going to go read my mail out by the lake."

Slowly, the red-head nodded. "Yeah…Okay. I'll…I'll see you later then."

"Yes! Later."

And with that, George turned back around and returned to the Great Hall, walking as if in slow motion, like he was expecting something else to happen at the last minute. But nothing did. Meril just smiled at his retreating back and then admired the ring he had gotten her.

As The Weasley finally passed through the double doors, so did Heather, going the opposite direction. She looked quickly to both sides with her eyebrows furrowed, spotted Meril, and rushed over.

"Letter time?" she immediately inquired, pushing her hair back out of her face. Meril nodded.

"Yup! Out by the lake! Come on!"

Meril grabbed Heather's hand and dragged her along behind her until they had made it outside. As soon as they got outside, though, her insides began to feel cold, and she sprinted to the lake, releasing Heather so that she could move faster. The blonde huffed and puffed after her, cursing under her breath.

Heather plopped down breathlessly, and Meril, holding the nine letters she had received, fell down right beside her.

"Okay, so…who've you got letters from?" Heather asked.

"Well, there's my mother, Steve—as you know, my aunt, my two cousins, two other friends from boot-camp, Hagrid, and this…weird Adalmund guy, who I don't even actually _know_."

Heather cocked her eyebrow. "Okay…then why is he sending you a birthday letter?"

Meril shrugged. "I honestly don't know. He sent me a letter when I broke my wrist--"Meril held up her bandaged wrist, which, later that day, she could finally have unwrapped—"and sent me all this weird stuff, too. Like this ring."

"The white gold one?" Heather inquired, cocking a brow. She grabbed Meril's hand and inspected the ring closely. Then, she let out a low whistle. "Wow, that is _nice_! This Adalmund guy must be rich if he got you that!"

Meril shook her head and laughed. "No, he didn't get me _that_ ring; George did. He sent me this ring—with the swan."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back up! _George_ gave you this ring?" Heather shoved Meril's hand into her face. "George _Weasley_ bought you this incredibly beautiful, inconceivably expensive ring, for-your-_birthday_?!"

"Yeah…"

"Are you sure it isn't, like, and engagement ring or something?!"

Meril blushed scarlet and pulled her hand away from Heather. "No, it wasn't an engagement ring! Jeez! We aren't going out, and we don't like each other that way, either! It was just a very thoughtful birthday present."

"O-kay," Heather snorted. Then, spotting the offended look on Meril's face, she quickly apologized. "Sorry, sorry! I know we just made up, and I shouldn't be so…mean or whatever! But, I just find it hard to believe that George would get you something so nice just for your bi—"

"Shush!" Meril demanded, cutting her off. "You are speaking nonsense, and I don't want to hear it."

"Okay, okay! So, Adalmund sent you this swan ring then?"

Meril nodded. "That's right. A whole bunch of the stuff he sent had a swan on it."

"That's odd," Heather commented.

"I thought so, too! But, I don't know…I kind of like it. Swans are very pretty."

"Yes, they are," Heather agreed. "So. Changing the subject again, do Fred, Lee, and George know about Steve yet? Because on the train, you refused to talk about him in front of them, for I don't _know_ why."

Meril shook her head. "No, no one knows about Steve except for you and me. And I intend to keep it that way, honestly. I mean, it's in the past, and it has nothing to do with the present _or _the future. So, really, I see no reason to bring it up!"

"Well, if it has nothing to do with the present or future, it should be alright to bring up!"

Meril shook her head. "No, no. I can't. I can_not_ tell any of them about him. Especially not Fred and George."

Heather cocked her eyebrow, that oh-so-familiar smile coming over her lips again. "Oh? And why not?"

"They just can't know. Now! I think I know what order I want to read my letters in!"

"Okay! Well, what is it?"

"First, I will open the letter from my mom. Then, the one from Aunt Bernadette. Third, it will be the letter from my cousin Avery, and then her brother, Rousel. Fifth will be the letter from Hagrid. Sixth will be….either Sienna or Paulo—my two friends from boot camp, you know—then, the weird Adalmund guy. And, lastly…" Meril paused and stared at the envelope in her hand. "Lastly, I will read Steve's letter."

Heather nodded. "That seems like a good order."

"And, don't worry—I will let you read them all."

Heather broke out in a grin. "Yay!"

"But _after_ me."

"That only seems fair," Heather replied. "Well! Come on then! Let's get these started!"

"Fine, fine. But not because you want me to—but because I am sure they are all very eager for me to have read their well-thought out letters."

"Yeah, yeah; whatever. I don't care what the reason is; I just want you to read them. I really want to see what Steve has to say. After all, this is the first time he's contacted you since you left boot camp, right?"

Meril shrugged. "Just about. I mean…we exchanged a few letters while I was in Germany. But I haven't heard from him in months." She shrugged again and tore open the envelope her mother's letter was in. Then, clearing her throat, she pulled it out.

_Dearest Meril,_

Hello, dear, and Happy Birthday to you! I hope you have been well. Did you receive my howler yesterday? I hope that it didn't embarrass you too much. I know how those things carry—trust me, I do! I used to get plenty from…well…from different people. But that is another story altogether and is completely inappropriate for this particular time.  
So, how is your day so far? Did you have a wonderful feast? I can't wait to hear all about it. But I am actually more interested in how last night went—you know, Halloween. And I know that you know what I am talking about, you can't fool me for a moment, even though this is simply a letter I am writing as I sit at home, alone, procrastinating, as usual.  
So, once again I got off topic. How was last night? I know that those Weasley boys told you I helped out with the party quite a lot. They are excellent liars—when they want to be. But they're also nice boys, and they never take credit for other people's work. That is something I quite like about those boys. We can discuss the few other things at a later point in time—like, perhaps, Christmas break, which is rapidly approaching! Anyway, let George know that I would like all of those photos back. ALL of them. He will never hear the end of it if even _one _of them is not back in my possession soon. Thank you, darling.  
I want to hear all about everything! Oh, I can't believe my baby is fifteen already! It seems like only yesterday that you were born. You were the most beautiful little thing—and you still are! Your father would be proud of you—I know I am. You do such wonderful things—even though you are a troublemaker—and I could never ask for better company.  
I hope you turn out better than I did, but I hope that you find love as strong as what your father and I had for one another. I know you hate it when I talk about him—I hate it, too—but these are things I feel like I need to say. Meril, in two years you will legally be an adult. I need to prepare you for that. Not that I think you aren't ready. You have always known how to take care of yourself—you had to, since I am never around when you need me most. You will be fine, but I can't help but worry in my wait. I can't wait to see what sort of outstanding person you will become. I hope your job allows you to stay with your family—when you have one. When your passion is travel, though, it is a bit difficult to find a job complying with that which still allows you to stay home. Not that I am trying to find excuses for my absence in your life.  
I love you, sweetie, and I hope you have an absolutely wonderful fifteenth birthday. Give my love to Heather.  
I'll see you for Christmas break!

_Love from,_

_Your mother Melody_

_P.S._ Please, be careful. I know that there are dementors around the school now, so just…watch out. And don't get into too much trouble, please. I worry so much about you while you're off at school.  
P.P.S If Spencer Professor Chatham has asked you to do anything, please listen to him.

Meril smiled and shook her head, ignoring the prickling feeling behind her eyes. She wished her mom wouldn't talk about her dad. She hated to feel that sadness return to her. She hated to see the images of his murder in her mind. She hated the loneliness she felt whenever she realized he wasn't there. But, most of all, she hated to think of her mother and how she had to be strong, forced to deal with the pain for _her _instead of just breaking down. Meril hated to think that her mom was lonely.

"Here you go, Heather," Meril said, clearing her throat. She handed the parchment to her best friend, who accepted it eagerly, and then proceeded to open the next letter.

_Dear Meril,_

**Hello, dear, and Happy birthday! It has been so long since we have spoken. How are you? How does it feel to be fifteen? I remember on my fifteenth birthday, your father Thadeus decided to crash my party by bringing over a bunch of his friends. They decided that they were going to soak us with water balloons and they tried to cast spells on us, since they were all legally adults by then, but they got in much trouble by our father. Thadeus's friends were all sent home—much to my friends' disappointment—and he was left to apologize to us all, and then clean up. My silly friends just loved that. They thought that your father was the most charming man in all of France! I of course, knew differently, but no one would ever listen to me!  
But this letter is not about your late father or me. It is about you on your special day.! I want to hear all about it, of course! I am always fascinated to hear about your…_shenanigans_. Of course, I can hardly say that I approve of half of them, but they are quite...entertaining to hear of. You never fail at that, or of making a mess of something, either. Avery still has a stain on her wall from the last time you visited!  
So, my dear niece, I hope that you have a wonderful day. Christmas is coming up; perhaps I will see you then. Yes! I will arrange it with your mother. Hopefully, she will be home for once. She is always away on business! It is absurd!  
Happy Birthday, Meril! **

_Much love,_

_Aunt Bernadette_

_P.S._ **The gift included in the envelope is a mirror. Your reflection will tell you makeover tips that will make YOU look better. Enjoy!**

Meril smiled a bit at the letter as the prickling continued and passed it off to Heather, who was still reading the one from Meril's mom. Meril had learned long ago not to take offense to anything that her aunt said. She really didn't mean to hurt anyone, no matter what she said. She had been raised to be more straightforward, and to say exactly what she thought. Meril was just thankful that this time, she had managed not to say anything like 'Perhaps if your mother were around more, you would not be such a…_disaster_.' She had said it before; she could easily say it again. But Meril wouldn't show that she cared, because she knew her Aunt didn't mean to hurt her. And she was French; she had to excuse her words, because sometimes, she didn't use the right words in the right places. Like, instead of disaster, she might mean miscreant or something of the like, but she didn't know it.

Another thing she hadn't said was 'You really should stop hanging around with those awful Weasley boys! They are turning you into such a horror.' That, again, was an example of her poor wording. Deep down, Meril knew her aunt didn't mean to call Fred and George awful, or to call her a horror. She simply didn't know exactly what those words meant. It was a mistake anyone who wasn't a native English-speaker could make. Sure, it made Meril's blood boil, but she was patient with her French relatives—or, her aunt and two cousins, anyway. Any others she happened to have…well, she wasn't quite so giving with them.

The third letter Meril tore open was from Avery, her Aunt Bernadette's sixteen-year-old daughter, and possibly the most spoiled girl Meril had ever met, though she somehow managed to be nice at the same time. Usually.

_Dear Meril,_

Happy Birthday!!!! It has been far too long since we have spoken, I think! We are cousins! We should always be in contact with one another!  
I hope that you have been having a wonderful day, so far! Aunt Melody told me that your adorable friends—those red-head boys! What are their names again? Frankis and Gregory, or something?—threw you a party last night. Was it amazing? What did you get? Who was there? Heather, or course! But who else? Those adorable boys must have been, and then that other friend of yours—the one with the horrible dreadlocks. I hear that the party was huge—well, not as huge as my sweet 16 party was—do you remember? It was spectacular, wasn't it? It was as big as a carnival!—but a lot of people came. You must be quite popular at that Hogwarts school of yours. You would, of course, be very well liked at Beauxbatons, as well, because you are my cousin! Though I am sure that they would like you for you, too, of course! Who wouldn't love your wonderful sense of humor? And your clumsiness is so endearing!  
I cannot wait to see you again! Mama said that, over break, we might see each other! That would be so nice! It is tiresome having only my brother and Mama to speak with. Mama does not understand everything that goes on at my school with me! And Rousel is such…a boy. As you know, we do not get along so well, unless we are not near each other. And all of my friends are going off on fabulous vacations over break, but Papa says that it is too much of an expense this year. He won't even let me go off with Fleur and her family, because he says t would be unfair to Rousel. Ha! As if I care! He has always been able to entertain himself. So hopefully I will be seeing you and I can tell you all about Beauxbatons!  
I am eagerly awaiting details about the party! Please tell me all about the…hot—that is what you say there in England, correct?—boys that you know! And about the party those cute Weasleys threw for you!  
Please have a Happy Birthday!  
Give kisses to Heather and the Weeasleys for me!

_Hugs and Kisses!_

_Avery _

_P.s._ The comb I got you is amazing! It fixes your hair for you!!! Enjoy!!!

Meril couldn't help rolling her eyes a bit at that. Avery was always rambling on about things, and talking about her mother wouldn't understand it all—even though she would, because Aunt Bernadette had gone to Beauxbatons herself, and she was still young and very into all the things her daughter was into…with the possible exceptions of a few things. And it was just like Avery to complain about Rousel, and not getting to go places, and not even say that the two could 'talk' about something. She said that she would tell Meril all about Beaxbatons, hinting that Meril would do all the listening.

Well, at least she was honest.

Meril held the comb from Avery and the mirror from Aunt Bernadette and rolled her eyes again. She had the feeling that they were insinuating something. Possibly that she needed a makeover and that her hair was messy? That was just like them, too.

Meril handed Heather the letter and the two items. "Here you go," she said. "Read the letter—and keep the gifts. You'll get more use out of them then I will."

Heather grinned. "Thanks! Are you sure?"

"Yes; I'm positive."

Heather shrugged. "Alright. But don't worry—they will always be open for your use!"

"Yeah….thanks…." Shaking her head, Meril tore open the letter from Rousel.

_Dear Mer,_

**Hey! Happy birthday! So now you****'****re fifteen, too, eh? Avery said that you had a party. I****'****m sure it was far better than hers was, since Fred and George were planning it, and it was for you instead of for Avery, Queen of the Spoiled. I****'****m sure she complained to you about Christmas vacation in her letter, no? Personally, I wish Mama and Papa would let her go off with Fleur; we would have much more fun without her. We always do.  
Remember your sixth birthday, when you locked her in the attic, and then we ran over to Heather****'****s house and threw things against your house. Avery****'****s screams were piercing. I remember that Heather was the first to give in to her pleas. She ran right to your house and accidentally told Aunt Melody and Uncle Thadeus what you did in her rush to stop the screaming. You weren****'****t allowed to have any cake until you apologized to her after Papa and Uncle got her out. You would not do it until your mother was about to put the rest of the cake away. You were so upset you almost cried, and you apologized to her like you meant it. Which I am sure you did, because you were sweet back then, even when you locked Avery in the attic. What happened to you since then, I do not know, but I am sure you wouldn****'****t sound so sincere anymore. Ha ha!  
So what are you planning to do today? Anything special? Of course, I mean besides reading my letter to you. Ha ha! Do you think that you will pull a prank in celebration of your birthday? Please tell me if you do! It would be very entertaining for me to hear about.  
Speaking of pranks, what are your friends up to? They are still the key troublemakers at your school, yes?  
Besides you, of course. You are the Dungbomb Queen, after all. Right? That is what your friends call you, yes?  
Well, I have to go now to class. Have a great fifteenth birthday! Make sure you have fun****—****your kind, if possible.  
I am sure I will see you over break!**

_Love,_

_Rousel_

_P.S._ **I am sure you will make excellent use of your gift! I am sorry I didn't actually get you something, but I went shopping with Mama and Avery, and they wouldn't take me anywhere where I could get something you would actually like. And Mama wouldn't let me go off alone. Make good use of it!**

It was money. He had sent a small pouch filled with gold and silver, which was why his envelope had been so thick. She smiled her thanks and pocketed the pouch, then handed the letter off to Heather, who had just finished reading Avery's.

"I never found you to be clumsy," she commented, frowning.

"That's because I'm really not. They just have a lot of unexpected stairs in their house, and I would trip. And, also, the floors are always pristine and waxed, so I would slip a lot, and, consequently, I broke things and stained things." Meril shrugged. "They have rarely seen me anywhere else. Except at my house."

"So they all just assume you're a klutz?"

"Yup."

"Oh, fun. Do they make jokes all the time?"

Meril nodded. "Whenever they can. Of course, that isn't always often, because, as good as they all are at English, they aren't fluent and they can't think of the right words all the time. And that works just fine for me, let me tell you." Meril laughed. "Now, who's letter is next?"

It was Hagrid's. The envelope was thin, which meant that the letter wasn't long. There was an ink blot next to her name, which had been smudged tremendously in an attempt to clean it off. Meril chuckled to herself as she tore open the envelope. Good old Hagrid. Now _there_ was a real klutz.

_Meril—_

_ Happy birthday. Sure you had fun last night. Come by today if ya have the chance.I made some treacle tart. Looking forward to talking to yer soon._

_--Hagrid_

Meril glanced over at Hagrid's hut. He was outside, bent over something of other. He sensed her look, straightened himself, and looked around. Then, spotting Meril, he waved. She waved in return, and then gave him the thumbs up sign and a grin. Thankfully, Hagrid knew what she meant and grinned back. Then he continued what he was doing, and Meril continued what she was doing.

The next letter was from Sienna, a friend from Boot Camp. It had been a long time since Meril had heard anything from her, and she eagerly tore open the envelope.

_Yo Meril,_

Hey! Happy Birthday! Fifteen, huh? You're getting old, but I'm doing it faster. The one thing I am better than you at, so far. But don't worry, I'm sure we'll find more. Eventually.  
So it's been a while since I've talked to you. My bad, my bad. I have been totally wrapped up in everything. I just got out of boot camp a few months ago, and it doesn't seem that things have been going so well since then. My trouble has always been a different kind than yours, and boot camp has not really changed that. I seriously think the only reason they let me out was because they were getting tired of me. I mean, seriously? Three years is a long time to be there, don't you think? They probably saw how little progress I was making and decided to let me go. That makes sense considering that I got to leave before the year was even up.  
So, enough about that! What have you been up to? I myself am back in school again for another year, and then I am going off into the real world; maybe I'll make something of myself. When do you think that we will see each other again? It's been over a year. It's been just about as long since I've seen a few other people from our beloved Boot Camp. Not Paulo, though. I saw him before school started back up. I am sure that he will tell you how he is doing though. It's none of my business to say.  
Anyway, what is it like at Hogwarts? I have heard great things from several reliable sources. And then, you know...parents and everyone like that. They're always going on about how Hogwarts is the best in Europe, possibly the world. Do you agree? And try to keep in mind that no one but you judges by the food that is served.  
So, anyway! I just thought that I should wish you a happy fifteenth birthday! I know you have been looking forward to this day for a long time now. So, make sure it's fantastic!

XOX,

_Sienna Morris_

_P.S._ I wasn't sure what I should get you—for all I know, your interests have changed. Keep the box, okay? It's incredibly useful.

It certainly seemed it, that was for sure. The box was impossibly small, but when opened, it expanded to an average size. Inside, there were, what else, dungbombs. She had a life-time supply by now, but Meril, of course, did not mind. She was, after all, the Dungbomb Queen.

She placed the letter on the ground beside Heather and, with shaking fingers, opened the next one in line. She was getting closer and closer to the letter from Steve, and her heart was racing. What would it say? How would she react? She was scared to find out, and yet there was little she wanted more.

_Dear Meril,_

Happy Birthday! You are now fifteen, and although you may think you are so old now, you aren't. You aren't even as old as I was when we met yet. So don't go getting any fantasies of grandeur or great schemes that will only disprove the great responsibility you may think you now have, all because you are a quarter-of-a-century-minus-ten years old now. You still have a lot to do before you are truly old and can handle responsibility; before you're an actual adult, not just a legal one as you will be in two more years.  
So, in the meantime, I think that you should have fun while you can! Live, laugh, and love—the three 'L's—while you can. Because once you are an adult, there isn't always much time for it. Or so I am told, anyway. I still do too much of all three, which is why I am having so much difficulty adjusting to the idea of a job; the essence of adulthood. Or, so I'm led to believe that is what the essence is. It is all any of the adults I have ever known concerned themselves with.  
But enough of me lecturing you and trying to teach you! I have never been any good at learning, so how should I know how to teach? I don't, which is my point precisely. This letter is about me wishing you a happy birthday, and I will provide any excess information after I have finished doing that.  
Happy Birthday, Meril! It has now been over two years since I first met you. You were only a wee one then; an almost-thirteen-year-old who was too big for her own shoes. I liked you straightaway. I could tell that you had an excellent sense of humor. Clearly, you took after me. Since, you know, I am totally your father. You were a little punk-ass who believed yourself better than everyone else there—and you were, at some things—even in all of that misery you had stashed away.  
You turned thirteen there at boot camp, with your closest friends…back at Hogwarts. Ha ha. I bet you thought I was going to say 'right there with you,' didn't you? I almost did; I was very tempted, but I decided not to. So where was I? Yes. You turned thirteen right there with all of us—as in me, Sienna, Steve, and other, insignificant characters we were forced to deal with, like those horrid instructors who, when they found out it was your birthday, forced you to work three times as hard. (So sorry about that, by the way.)  
I remember clearly having to keep Steve away from you. You may not have realized it, but he was quite fascinated by you, and took any opportunity he could to hit on you. Even before you turned thirteen. It was only on your birthday that he made his liking for you evident—and what a strange thing for him to do, don't you agree? He seemed so hardcore-badass. Who knew, right?  
Well, anyway. I am sure you remember your thirteenth birthday just as well as I do—probably even better—so I will leave it at that.  
I hope your day is awesome.  
Don't forget to keep in touch!

_Mucho love, chica,_

_Paulo_

_P.s._ My birthday is January 15. I'll be turning nineteen! Just thought you would like a reminder :P

_P.p.s._ I remember that you wanted to know what I ended up doing with my life. So far? Nothing. I am still in search of a steady job. So, forgive me that your gift isn't as elaborate as we both would have liked. I only have so much money to work with here. Hope you enjoy, all the same.

It was a Whoopie cushion—a piece Muggle merchandise. He also included a bag of sweets and a set of Exploding Snap cards—something that Meril hadn't even noticed no one else had gotten her, but was surprised upon realizing it. It was usually one of the core gifts she received—especially when she got as many as she had the day before.

"You read too quickly," Heather complained. She was had barely finished Sienna's letter when Meril put the next on the ground beside her. Meril grinned sheepishly in shrugged.

"I'm sorry."

"You should be," Heather teased. She straightened out Paulo's letter and began to read as Meril cautiously opened the next envelope and pulled out the parchment.

At the top of the parchment, there was an ornate swan set into the parchment. If you looked at it the right way, it appeared to be swimming. Meril quickly looked away as it was making her dizzy.

_My dearest Meril_,

It has come to my attention that fifteen years ago today, you came onto this earth. I would like to wish you my most sincere hopes that you should have a wonderful day. I apologize for never wishing you a happy birthday in the past; I never knew. So, to make it up to you, I am sending you a gift for today's celebration, along with enough money to buy yourself fourteen others. I wish I could do more, but I am housebound because of my illness, and I do not trust anyone else to get you anything in my name, because it will undoubtedly be not even close to good enough.  
I fear that, no matter how hard I try though, I will never be able to make my absence up to you. Perhaps you don't care, but in my old age I have been caring more and more. As I mentioned in my previous letter, it is my life's biggest regret. If I could change anything, that would be it. Everything else I would leave the same, if only I could fix that mistake—the biggest I have ever made.  
I will never be able to fix it completely. I may not even be able to make a patch in the giant rip, but I would like to try. If my illness has not taken me by Christmas, I would greatly like to see you. It will probably be my last opportunity. I feel myself growing weaker as each day progresses.  
Have a wonderful birthday, my dear, sweet girl.

_Love from,_

_Adalmund_

Meril read the letter quickly a second time, not quite sure how to react. He was still alive, whoever he was, and he wanted to see her over Christmas break, if possible. Of course, her initial response was a big fat NO. She already had plans for her Christmas break, and meeting some strange dying man was not in them. However, she was curious. Part of her wanted to meet this old man who bestowed so many strange gifts upon her, and who so deeply regretted not playing a role in her life. She also had to wonder, though, if this Adalmund—the Swan Man, as she had ordained him—was sending letters to the right person. She had never heard of him before; not until she received the first letter. So really, how big of a role could he have played if he _had_ been around and if the letters really were intended for her.

Attached was a beautiful Wizarding Chess kit made of crystal. It seemed a little impractical, but then Meril discovered by means of a small tag that it was self-repairing. It was absolutely gorgeous. It even had a crystal swan embedded in one of the sides. Her full name was carved into another side in beautiful script. Meril was truly awed by it.

And then there was the sack of money that probably weighed as much as her head. This Adalmund guy didn't fool around.

Meril put the gifts with the others and handed Heather the letter. Then, with a deep breath, she picked up Steve's letter. Her hands were shaking, and her breathing was unsteady. Heather politely acted as if she didn't notice and went on to read Adalmund's letter.

"It's been so long since I've talked to him. Like…actually talked to him. I sent him a letter to say hi once, and he said hi back, but we didn't really say anything…I can't believe…I can't believe he remembers my birthday," Meril breathed. She tore open the envelope and pulled out her last birthday letter.

_Dear Meril,_

It began just as all the others did, but for whatever reason Meril felt her breath catch at those two words.

**Happy birthday, Meril. As has already been pointed out to you, no doubt, you are now fifteen. Some may ask where the time has gone, and how you can already be so old, but I ask the opposite question, How could time be moving so slowly? You have always seemed older to me. Although you could be immature, I just always saw something in you that made you seem far older than you were. So, when applied to you, fifteen is a very small number.  
However, two is not. It has been more than two years since I first saw you. Recently, I've been thinking a lot about those old days. I miss them; or, rather, I miss _you_ being in my days now.  
Meril, do you remember your thirteenth birthday? It was you, me, Sienna, and Paulo. Perhaps others joined us, but I wasn't paying attention. Night had fallen, and classes were over for the day. We built a campfire and sat around it. We told stories of our days before the wretched boot camp. You and I were both sparing of the details while everyone else told only about them. Then we played Muggle games like Truth or Dare and Spin the Bottle. I remember you crawling towards the glass bottle—you were the first to go, it being your birthday and all. You appeared calm, but your eyes, usually so fierce, were nervous. You spun the bottle, and we all watched as it slowed. It landed on me. I remember how you looked up and your breath caught, Your eyes were wide, and you looked like you were trying to find a way out of it. I don't know whether I looked calm and collected or what, but I remember feeling oddly pleased that it had landed on me. You crawled towards me. Your lips were trembling as your face got closer to mine, and you closed your eyes so that your fear was not as easily visible. And then our lips touched. We were both unsure at first, My hand automatically went up and I held your face; your hand was clutching my forearm. we broke apart, and you smiled. All nervousness was gone from your eyes; you just looked happy.  
I have never remembered anything so clearly as I remember that single moment. There are whole sections of my life which are barely more than a foggy reflection to me, but that single moment of my life stands out to me. I remember it better than I remember our first real date, and only slightly less than our Christmas Break together.**

**Do you remember the time I am talking about? Your mom was off somewhere last minute, so you couldn't go home, and neither could I. Well, I have a confession to make. I could have gone home. I would have told you then, but I knew that you would get mad at me and would have told me I should have taken the opportunity to see my family and to get away. But I didn't want to. Not only do I not like my home life, but I wanted to spend that time with you. I couldn't stand to think of you alone,  
I had never felt that way before, and so I did all I could think of doing—I did what I wanted without consulting anyone else. It was instinct.  
And I am glad I did it. I remember what a great time we had! Snow ball fights, snow men, hot chocolate around the fire. We exhausted ourselves every day, and yet we still woke up early the next morning to do the same thing.  
My favorite day was Dec. 20, We were finally allowed to go Christmas shopping. You thought you were so sneaky when you went off to buy my gift, claiming that you were going to the bathroom to freshen up for our lunch. When we got back to the camp it was dark. You were too tired to make it back to your cabin, though you wouldn't admit it. You suggested that we hang out in my cabin, which I had to myself over Christmas, and you would go back to your cabin with your stuff later.  
You never did get around to doing that.  
We had barely been talking for a minute when you fell right asleep. I carried you as far as the bed—you kept muttering that you would be up soon and get yourself back to your cabin. I knew you wouldn't, but I didn't mind having you there. I tucked you in and went to go sleep in someone's else's bed, but you stirred and called me back.  
You are a very forceful person, Meril. You grabbed onto me and pulled me right down. You wrapped your arms around me and buried your face into my chest. I remember lying very still or a very long time. I wasn't sure what to do. I should have moved but I didn't. Instead, I ended up falling asleep with your hair woven between my fingers.**

**I have said enough, now, and am thoroughly embarrassed with myself. Please burn this, or at the very least, don't let anyone else see it.  
I hope you have a great birthday. Hopefully I will be in touch again soon.**

_Steve West_

**_P.s._ I am back in school. Did I tell you? I am finally out of Boot Camp. Either they gave up on me, or I finally passed their behavior test.  
_P.P.S._ I couldn't think of anything especially good to get you for your birthday. I enclosed some money, chocolate, a sweater, and a scarf. I hope you like.**

Meril stared at the letter, her jaw hanging open. Never before had she seen such a long letter from him. He had never been so open about his feelings, either. In one way, it frightened her. It had been two years ago that they had started going out; they had been broken up for about a year and five months. He had been a big part of her life, but she was trying to move past that. On the other hand, he hadn't moved on at all.

She couldn't help remembering the reason they broke up, though. It wasn't because they stopped liking each other, or because they got into a fight, or anything big like that. It was because they had both agreed that they were too young to try at a long-distance relationship. They would both be in school all the time, and that would make it especially difficult to see the other. Also, as teenagers, they were more likely to have a wandering eye and become interested in someone else, or act upon an old interest. Then someone's feelings would get hurt and it would end badly. It would just be easier on them both if they made a clean break.

Meril hadn't even _imagined_ that **not** making a clean break would have been better, allowing them both to more effectively move on. Meril had moved on just fine. Her old feelings for those two red-headed boys had come bursting back to the surface, having been suppressed by her relationship status. Steve had just lingered in the back of her mind for the past year and a half. That did not seem the case for him.

It was also really sweet, though, Meril decided as she glanced back over the letter. She hadn't realized how much she had meant to him. She didn't think he seemed like the sweet, sensitive person he became around her, but she had nothing to compare it to, having just met him. But from the letter, and what others had told her, he definitely wasn't usually like that. He had really—_did _ really—like her; love her even.

Meril couldn't help grinning as she thought of that. She had loved him, too. He was her first kiss; her first boyfriend. He wasn't her first love, but he was the first one to return those feelings. It was hard to forget about that-- she didn't want to forget it. She had had a lot of fun with Steve. And she did still feel strongly for him; it was hard not to, though she wished she could stop. She didn't want to dwell on him too long, since she knew that he wasn't who she would want to be with in the end, anyway.

Sighing, Meril folded the letter and stuffed into her pocket. Heather automatically turned and stared at her. She opened her mouth, but closed it quickly, not sure how to ask to read the letter without being rude.

"Sorry, Heather. I can't let you read it. Not yet. It's still too personal. And besides, he asked me not to let anyone read it," Meril said, answering the unasked question. Heather was silent for a moment, just looking at her.

"Okay," she said at last. She hesitated before standing. She held all the other letters in her hand. As she had waited for Meril to finish up reading Steve's letter—she had taken quite a long time to read it, her eyes soaking in every word—Heather had put every letter back in its envelope and organized all of the gifts into a nice pile. "Shall we go?"

Meril sighed again. "Yeah. Let's…let's get this up to my room."

"Then some birthday fun?"

"Then some birthday fun."

* * *

**a/n** So half of the fun in this chapter was seeing all of the different fonts I used for this chapter. But, since fanfiction doesn't support other fonts, you can't see them. But of course I think it is also fun to see the other people in her life besides the ones at Hogwarts and you know...her mom. Haha. Anyway! I hope you enjoyed. If you care enough about the font thing, just check out this chapter on my site. :)

xox


	24. Birthday Fun and Surprises

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Three—  
**Birthday Fun and Surprises

* * *

Meril and Heather arrived at the portrait hole, both out of breath from laughter. They had sung _Happy Birthday_ several times at the tops of their lungs as they paraded through the castle. Students, ghosts, and paintings alike shrieked, wailed, and complained as they went about croaking the horrible song until at last Professor McGonagall was sent after them and forced them to 'end their nonsense.' The two continued on silently until they were sure the teacher was out of ear-shot and they belted out another two rounds of the son which no one could sing. And so there they were; out of breath in front of the portrait hole, tears in their eyes. Meril took two large swallows of air and turned towards the portrait hole, prepared to see the Fat Lady standing regally there as always. However, she was nowhere in sight. In her place stood a painting of a knight in armor too big for him

Meril stopped and stared at the painting, confused. They hadn't gotten lost again, had they? No, no; they were at the portrait hole. Meril recognized the other paintings around. But where was the Fat Lady? Meril paused in curiosity, and then remembered.

"Oh," she whispered. Yes, she had forgotten all about what had happened the night before. She was too preoccupied with the fact that it was her birthday to think of much anything else. But yes, now she remembered. How could she have forgotten, even in all of the excitement? All of Gryffindor crowded in confusion in front of the portrait hole; the empty, torn frame; the fright and thrill that was sent throughout the castle when it had been announced that Sirius Black had been there; how they had slept in the Great Hall. How self absorbed was she to forget that?

"Er, hello?" Meril cautiously greeted. She took a step towards the knight. "Who are you?"

The knight scowled and drew out his sword. "Sir Cadogan. But who are you to dare to trespass on my land?!"

Meril jumped back in a bit of shock. She had heard mild talk of this man—painting—before. People had always laughingly mentioned him once, and if he came up again there was annoyance in their voice. She herself had never seen him before, though, and she wondered where he was that seemingly everyone else in the castle had.

"I'm Meril—I'm in Gryffindor."

Sir Cadogan narrowed his eyes at her. "Is that so? Well, prove you belong here by accepting my challenge to a duel!"

Meril scoffed. "I'm not going to duel you! I don't have time for that, and I don't need to get in trouble for getting into yet another fight anyway! Just let me in; it's my birthday!"

"Not without a duel, lass!; draw your weapon!"

"No!"

The two argued back and forth for a few minutes, Heather hovering in the background, giggling; at last, Sir Cadogan, with a few insults muttered under his breath, resigned.

"Password?" he asked dully. He leaned against his plump dapple-gray pony, who whinnied and moved away. Sir Cadogan let out a cry as he fell to the ground.

Heather swallowed a laugh. "Are you alright?" she asked, somehow managing to actually sound concerned.

"Of course!" Sir Cadogan answered. He got to his feet and pushed up the visor. It feel right back over his face, and he let out a puff of annoyance. "A fall like that could never hurt me, lass!" He thrust his sword back into its sheath and looked at the two. "Password?" he repeated.

Meril cleared her throat. "_A--_" she began, only to be cut off by the knight in the portrait.

"Ha! Wrong!" he exclaimed triumphantly, pointing his sword at her laughingly.

"What?! I didn't even say the whole password yet! How do you know it's wrong?!"

"The password doesn't start with 'A'," Sir Cadogan said matter-of-factly.

"Since when?!"

"Since I changed the password this morning."

Meril groaned and looked back at Heather, who was smiling in a bemused way. It wasn't often that you saw someone arguing with a painting, after all. "I have to go find Percy or someone who'll know the password."

Heather laughed. "Okay. I'll stay here." Her arms still laden with the gifts Meril had received, Heather walked up to the painting and slid down beside it. She cradled the packages in her arms and smiled up at Sir Cadogan in what she hoped was a pleasant way, then looked away to avoid any further conversation.

Meril stuffed her letters into her robe pocket and flew back down the stairs, almost forgetting to jump the trick step as she went. She half-ran through the corridors in search of Percy. Sadly, though, she had no idea where he would be. She had never spent that much time getting to know him, she hated to admit. She didn't _dislike_ him, really. He just…wasn't her favorite Weasley. And he was always so busy, she had never gotten the chance to really see what his interests were. He was a serious type, so she thought he might be in the Library. However, he also had a girlfriend, she had recently learned, and so he might be off with her.

Meril sighed as she turned the corner, nearly bumping into someone. Her head snapped up, and she was about to say something unpleasant when she realized who it was. Blinking, she smiled slightly. "Hello again, Shane."

"Good morning, Meril! How is your birthday so far?" He really was quite a pleasant person, Meril realized. He smiled very softly at her and waited patiently for an answer. He showed no signs of wanting to be anywhere else or of trying to escape her. His bright green eyes stayed focused on her blue ones, not ones flickering to the side. Meril felt her smile widen easily.

"It's been pretty good. I got a few letters from some people I haven't heard from in a while." Her hand automatically went to her side and she pat her pocket. "I wanted to drop them off in my room, but I can't seem to get into the tower." She laughed lightly. "I was just going to go look for Percy or Professor McGonagall or…someone." She laughed again.

"Well, I know the password," Shane answered. "If that is the reason you can't get in, anyway." He paused. "Is it?"

"Yeah. That new painting…"

"Sir Cadogan? He's a bit annoying, isn't he?"

"More than just a _little_."

Shane nodded in agreement, and the two began walking back towards Gryffindor Tower. "I'm glad he's been moved from that staircase leading to the Divination tower; I just wish he hadn't been moved to _our_ tower."

Meril cocked her head curiously to the side. "I don't know what staircase you're talking about. I've never seen Sir Cadogan before."

Shane was bewildered at this. "How is that _possible?!_ I know you're in Divination, and Sir Cadogan annoys _everyone_ who walks by him. He's asked me to duel him at _least _twenty times this year alone."

"Well, I've never seen him before," Meril repeated with a shrug. "Maybe you take a different way than me to that class."

"Is there another way to get there? I don't know of any."

Meril paused and rested her foot on the next step. "When do we have Divination next?"

"Tuesday, I think."

"Okay. Well, on Tuesday, come to class with me. I'll show you the way I get to class. And then we can leave the way you go."

A look of surprise came onto Shane's face. No one ever invited him to walk with them to class. Slowly, a smile spread across his face. "Alright," he agreed. He nodded shortly. "Alright."

"Okay," Meril confirmed, smiling a little herself. She hoped she didn't forget about it. She didn't really have a bad memory, usually, but she was always forgetting about Shane.

The two continued the climb up the stairs silently. When they reached the top, Heather was still sitting by Sir Cadogan, and looking slightly annoyed. Her eyebrow was ticking, and her knuckles had turned white. Sir Cadogan was telling her rather boring stories about his quests and randomly urging her to join him in a duel at the same time.

"Meril! And Shane, too! Hi!" she exclaimed. She jumped to her feet and skipped over to them. With gritted teeth, she said, "Save me; please tell me you have the password."

Shane nodded. "Of course I do." He stepped towards Sir Cadogan and Meril followed after him so she'd know the password, too.

"_Lethifold,_" Shane said briskly. He pronounced each letter perfectly so that that portrait couldn't call him out and tell him the password was wrong. Sir Cadogan sighed and slumped his shoulders, allowing himself to swing open.

"There you go." Shane smiled and stepped aside as Heather climbed into the Gryffindor Tower. Meril thanked Shane and then went in after her best friend. The portrait swung close, and it was only then that Meril realized Shane had come up to give her the password and for no other reason. Feeling slightly bad, she moved up next to Heather, who was standing awkwardly by a chair where Scott Gunderson was trying to chat her up.

"Hi, Scott," Meril said loudly. She pat him on the shoulder then grabbed her friend's wrist and dragged her to the spiral staircase which would lead to her dorm. Scott complained after her, but she was blatantly ignoring him.

The two girls darted up the stairs and dumped the letters and gifts onto Meril's four-poster bed. Heather picked the gifts from Meril's Aunt Bernadette and cousin Avery back up and pocketed them, remembering what Meril had said about keeping them.

Meril mumbled something about putting it with the rest later and scratched Pistachio, who lay curled into a tiny ball on her bed, behind the ears affectionately. She didn't know how her kitten had gotten back into her room, but she was thankful to find her there. She filled a small bowl with some cat food and left it on the floor for her, then kissed her head. She didn't even stop to think about how the food and bowl had gotten there, since she didn't recall getting it the night before.

"So how do you know Shane?" Meril asked as the two headed back out of Gryffindor Tower.

"We're both prefects together. Plus, you know…we have some classes together." Heather gave Meril an odd look. "Why wouldn't I know him?"

Meril ignored the last question and gave Heather a bewildered look in return. "What classes do you have with him?"

"Herbology, for one. You know…that class which fifth year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs have together?"

"Oh." Meril blushed scarlet.

"And he's in my Ancient Runes class, too. He's really nice…"

The two walked back down the staircase and kept walking towards her Arithmancy classroom.

"Where are we going?" Heather asked suddenly. She wasn't familiar with this path since she didn't take Arithmancy.

"Professor Chatham's classroom," Meril answered quickly. She had only remembered her agreement with her teacher from the day before when she was reading her letter from her mother.

"Professor Whozzits?"

"Professor Chatham," Meril repeated; she hadn't realized that Heather probably wouldn't know who this was. "He's my Arithmancy teacher."

"I thought some old lady taught Arithmancy…"

"There are two teachers for it. Since, you know, it's _such_ a popular class." She rolled her eyes. "You might actually recognize him once you see him. He's the youngish teacher--"

Heather quickly interrupted, her face lighting up, "The one with the golden blonde hair and hazel eyes? And the adorable smile?"

"Uh…yeah. That's him…"

Heather nearly melted at that. "But wait…Why are we going there? You don't need help or anything, do you? I mean, you're good at Arithmancy, I thought. And it's your birthday! And as gorgeous as he is, I don't want to bore myself with your lesson."

"Okay, um…_ew_. He's my teacher and…just stop talking about him like that, please." Meril shuddered. "I need to pick something up. I can explain the rest _after_ I pick it up."

"Why after?" Heather complained. She was very eager to hear the story.

"Because we're just about there," Meril answered simply. Not a minute later she stopped in front of a closer door. She rapped her knuckles on the door and, without waiting for an answer, opened the door, peeking her head inside.

There Professor Chatham sat at his desk, reading a lengthy letter. He looked at the door, blushed, and hastily shoved the letter into a desk drawer.

"Meril! Come in; come in!"

Meril slipped the rest of the way through the small opening and smoothed down her huge robes. "Hi, Mr. Chatham. I came, just like I agreed to."

"Yes, I see that. Thank you. It's funny that you should come now, actually. I was just reading--" he stopped suddenly when he noticed Heather hovering awkwardly by the doorway. "Your latest report. Good job, good job."

"You already handed that back to me," Meril replied blankly. "I got an 'Acceptable.' Did you make a copy and change your mind or something?"

The professor blinked, blushed, and decided not to answer. "Um…please sit down. I see you brought a friend?"

"Oh, yes. This is my best friend Heather Scarlett; she's in Hufflepuff."

"Oh, Heather!" His face brightened as if in some form of recognition; Meril and Heather exchanged odd looks. "Please, take a seat; both of you." He conjured an extra chair, and Heather sank into it as Meril took the other one. "Do you take Arithmancy with Professor Vector?"

Heather looked momentarily confused, by the name or the question, Meril wasn't sure, and then shook her head. "No, _no!_ Merlin, no! I don't take Arithmancy. I take Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies."

"Oh. Well those are fine choices!" Even as he said it, his mouth and eye were both twitching.

"We're spending the whole day together, so I brought her with me. We just got back from dropping some things off on my bed," Meril explained, since her teacher seemed confused about what Heather was doing there.

"Oh, alright. Well, here's that package I told you about." He handed Meril an average sized box wrapped in orange paper and tied with a blue bow. There was only a small note attached which simply said: '_To Meril Lizlow. Care of Spencer Chatham. Love, Your Mother, Melody. Happy Birthday!'_

"You can open it now, if you want…" he suggested, seeing how Meril was just staring at it; Meril shook her head.

"No; I think I'll open it later."

"Okay. That's your right. I know what it is anyway." He smiled mischievously and sat back in his seat. Without giving the two girls another glance, he picked up some papers and began to read through them. He clicked his tongue a few times and shook his head as he marked the page.

"Well…what's in it?" Meril asked unsurely after a few minutes.

The teacher didn't even look up as he answered, "A present."

Meril had to bite her tongue to resist the overpowering urge to make a smart retort.

"Well what specifically?"

"That I can't tell you. I've been sworn to secrecy." He looked up at her and winked, smiling. "However," he began, looking back down at the report in front of him, "I can tell you that there will be a surprise for you at dessert tonight."

"What sort of surprise?" Heather asked, speaking for the first time in a great many minutes.

But Mr. Chatham was clearly not going to say anything else. Wordlessly, Meril and Heather both rose from their seats and walked out of the office.

"Bye," they said as they walked out the door.

"Bye-bye now, girls!"

The door clicked shut.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"Okay—explain. **_Now_**," Heather demanded, pulling Meril aside.

"Explain what, again?"

"What you said you would explain to me before we went in there—and why your teacher seems to be on such good terms with your _mother."_

_"_Oh. _That_." Meril frowned as she thought of where to start. For weeks, she had wanted nothing more than to tell her best friend all about her situation with Professor Chatham. She had basically written the conversation in her head, and now she was pulling a blank.

"Well…it all started in August," she decided to begin. "We went shopping in Diagon Alley. I forget where I was; probably at the bank or something. But anyway! My mom went off on her own to Flourish and Blotts. When I joined her there, I saw her talking to this guy in the Arithmancy section. He had longish, curly golden blonde hair and hazel eyes. When he smiled he had dimples and happy wrinkles by his eyes. He was everything my mom loved in a guy—handsome and charming. His name was Spencer Chatham, and at the point, he was nothing more than a guy my mom met at a bookstore. He remained just that for several weeks.

"School started. I had some lady named Professor Hopkins for a teacher the first few lessons. Then, one day, I ran into the classroom, and there was no teacher there. This was odd, because Professor Hopkins despised tardiness. And then this guy walked in—with golden blonde hair and hazel eyes. He explained to us that Professor Hopkins was just a substitute, blah blah blah. For a few minutes, I didn't know where I recognized him from. When I realized where from, I jumped up and was obnoxious, and he very awkwardly greeted me, because he didn't know I'd be in his class.

"Now I am positive he and my mother are exchanging letters and meeting each other when they can and stuff. They both seem to really like each other." Meril took a deep breath and collapsed against the wall. Heather stared at her best friend, her jaw dangling open.

"That has got to be _weird_!" she exclaimed.

"Tell me about it…"

"It's kind of cute though," Heather added thoughtfully. "I mean, once you get past how _weird_ it is. They look good together. I can totally picture it. And your mom deserves to have someone."

"I agree with you. But my _teacher_?!"

"If things get serious, you could always see if you could switch to Professor Vector's class."

"I don't want to switch. He's a good teacher. And who even says it's going to get serious?!"

"Exactly. I think it's very weird for you, but I think you should let it be. Your mom will undoubtedly talk to you before anything happens. I'm sure she acknowledges how weird it would be for you. And…"

Heather didn't finish that thought, knowing that Meril understood what she was implying. Meril nodded. "Yeah. I'm sure she will talk to me about it."

"Yeah…And then you can tell her what you really think."

"Yeah. That could work…"

"And there isn't even a guarantee anything will happen; maybe nothing is even going on _now_. Maybe they're just friends. You can't be sure until you ask."

"I don't want to ask though! How am I supposed to bring that up? 'Hey, uh, Professor? Yeah, I was just wondering what exactly is going on between you and my mom? I mean, do you like her? Do you want to marry her? Or are you just friends?' That doesn't exactly seem appropriate, does it?"

Heather giggled appreciatively. "Since when do you care about being appropriate? And you could always ask your mom, you know. I am sure that would be much easier than asking your teacher."

"That is still awkward though. Because what if nothing is going on?!"

Heather shrugged. "You'll suck it up. Honestly, you're making a way bigger deal out of it than it is. And since when do you worry about these sorts of things?"

"Since it's my _mom_ and not someone else."

"Noooooo; since you've been to Boot Camp. Wow. I never thought that they would ever manage to change you in _any _way and that it was a waste of time, but they have had some affects on you."

"Yeah, I guess they have…"

"But you're still you, and I love you!" Heather exclaimed. She threw her arms around her best friend in a bone-crunching hug, and then the two hurried off to continue the birthday festivities.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril and Heather spent the rest of the day with each other and with barely anyone else. They saw Angelina and Alicia in passing. Cedric spent an hour or two with them, and at one point Fred, George, and Lee tried to sabotage them, but ended up failing because it was at the same time that Angelina and Alicia passed by and talked with them a bit.

Heather and Meril spent an hour or two at Hagrid's hut. They ate treacle tart and washed it down with several glasses of milk to unglue their tongues. Meril finally filled Hagrid in on what her two years away from Hogwarts had been like, mentioning every little thing except for Steven—he was something that she thought it best to keep just between her and Heather. After that discussion had dried itself up, they talked about classes and life in general. Hagrid inquired after their love lives, and while Meril remained unusually silent, Heather blushed and gushed about Cedric.

Finally it was time for dinner. Heather sat at the Hufflepuff table with Cedric, directly across the aisle from Meril and George.

"So, Meril," George began, stuffing his mouth with shepherd's pie. "How has your birthday been? I haven't really seen much of you."

"Good," Meril replied, licking some mashed potatoes off of her fingers. "Heather and I had a lot of fun. I got some gifts and letters; I still haven't opened my mom's gift yet."

"Speaking of gifts," interjected Fred, "our mom sent one to us for you."

"What?! No! She really didn't have to!" Meril exclaimed, dropping her fork.

"That's what we told her," George agreed, nodding. "We said that you would be getting enough stuff between the party and your actual birthday, since you're so loved and all…"

"But she insisted on giving you a little something," Fred finished with a shrug.

"We'll give it to you later, if you want."

Meril stopped glaring at the two and nodded. "Alright!" She smiled at them and then returned her attention to her meal. Fred and George both watched her for a moment, wearing expressions different yet similar, and then turned back to their plates. Their freckles stood out prominently against their scarlet skin, but when Lee and Meril both pressured them to tell what they were red for, neither would say.

"But it's my birthday!" Meril whined. She grabbed onto George's arm and stared pleadingly up at him.

Turning even redder, George shook her off and scowled into his plate. "I don't know what you're talking about. Eat your dinner."

Meril stuck her tongue out at him. "Fine! I'm eating my dessert at the Hufflepuff table, though, because you guys _stink_!" She glowered at them individually and then at her plate.

When the dessert course rolled around, Meril did exactly what she said she would. She stood, stepped across the aisle, and stuck herself right between Heather and Cedric.

Heather gave Meril a surprised look. "What are you doing over here?"

"Fred and George are being mean," she pouted, reaching for a brownie. Heather swatted her hand

"You go make up with those boys and eat your dessert at _your_ table, m'kay?"

Meril glanced over her shoulder at the table. A small boy, probably a first year, had taken her seat. She looked back at Heather and frowned. "But I've been replaced."

Heather cocked an eyebrow at her friend and rolled her eyes, being very little help. Cedric, on the other hand, gently touched her shoulder and said in his soft, slow voice, "You weren't replaced; those boys would never replace their queen." He winked at Heather so he thought that Meril couldn't see, but she could, and she gave him an odd look, which he purposefully ignored. "Just go take your seat back. I'm sure they'll stop being…_stinky._"

Meril couldn't help smiling at that. "Alright," she agreed, laughing slightly. "You two just continue your love-fest now; I'll see you both later." She grinned at the two, pat their backs, and stepped back over to her table.

"Excuse me," she said politely, tapping the small boy on the shoulder. He looked over at her, a horrified expression on his face.

"My name's not Meril," he whimpered, his face quavering like a five-year-old's.

Meril looked at him confusedly, and then over at Fred, George, and Lee, all of whom were snickering. She then glanced at the boy's plate. Sitting on it was a round cake frosted in blue. Fifteen lit yellow candles surrounded the edges, and in the center the words 'Happy Birthday Meril!' were written in orange frosting.

"Of course it isn't," she said softly to the boy. "That's me; I'm Meril, and that's my seat. The cake is for me."

The boy looked incredibly relieved that it wasn't someone pulling a prank on him. He jumped out of the seat and ran off to find another empty one. Meril rolled her eyes and took back her seat.

"Who made the cake?" she asked, looking curiously at her three male friends. They all shrugged.

It was then that she remembered Professor Chatham's words. '_There will be a surprise for you at dessert tonight.' _That was what he had said.

Meril quickly scanned the Head Table, but she didn't see him. Shrugging as well, she closed her eyes and blew out the candles. Fred, George, Lee, and a few other people clapped as if she had just made some huge accomplishment. She handed a few candles each to Fred, George, and Lee for them to lick off the icing, leaving one for herself.

"Mmm! This is delicious!" George exclaimed; Fred and Lee both nodded, sucking on the candles to get all of the flavor they could off.

Meril stuck her one candle into her mouth and sucked off the icing. It was delicious, the boys were right. But there was something wrong with it, too. It was amoretto flavored—Meril's favorite flavor for icing.

She pulled the candle from her mouth and dropped it on the plate. Once again she scanned the head table, searching for his face. And this time he was there. He grinned at her and mouthed 'Happy Birthday,' but Meril could barely smile back.

Because there was something wrong with that frosting.

It was amoretto flavored.

And only her dad ever made frosting like that.

It was then that Meril knew, without even having to ask, that her mom and her teacher were serious.

Happy Birthday, Meril.


	25. Trouble

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Four—  
**Trouble

* * *

Being fifteen agreed very well with Meril. She felt more mature and older, and because of that much bolder than she had felt in two years. It started out as just a feeling in the pit of her stomach, but as the days wore on and nothing of interest happened, her boldness made its way to her head. And it was only a matter of seconds before it made its way to her mouth by way of a smart remark unnecessary comment.

Some teachers like Professor Flitwick and Professor Binns chose to ignore her (this wasn't hard for Professor Binns, who chose to ignore everything anyone did in class). Others, such as Professor Sprout, tolerated what she said and occasionally laughed at it. However, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape fell into neither of those categories.

"_Miss Lizlow,_" McGonagall suddenly snapped, interrupting her lesson and swinging around in one fluid motion. "If I hear _one more word_ out of you I am giving a full week of detentions. Do you hear me?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Meril saluted. "Er…ma'am, rather," she corrected herself as she noticed her professor's face turn bright red in anger.

"Are you looking for detention, Miss Lizlow?"

"No, Profe—well…actually, it depends on what I'd be doing. Because I would love to spend another day with Madam Pince. But if it was anything else, I'd just _have to _say no."

"Well that's just too bad, because you've just earned yourself one. Keep talking and I'll give you the rest I promised you."

Meril opened her mouth wide, ready with a retort, but a sharp elbow in the ribs reminded her that she was past carrying things on incessantly. Quickly she shut her mouth, but continued to stare arrogantly at the teacher, her jaw set. She could still be bold and troublesome Meril without being the old over-the-top Meril that always got herself neck-high in trouble.

"Thanks, Lee," she whispered out of the side of her mouth.

"No problem. It's not as much fun when you're in detention, anyway. "

"Well, I don't see how it matters where _I_ am when you're off chasing Angelina, but I appreciate the sentiment in any case."

Lee's face dropped considerably and he turned and glared at his best female friend. She met his gaze and grinned brightly. He opened his mouth to speak, but Meril quickly stuck her tongue out at him and turned her attention back towards the lesson.

Lee tried again and again to get her attention, a retort ready, but she ignored him each time. At last he was acknowledged, but not by Meril. Professor McGonagall whirled around for the second time, looking more than a little agitated.

"Mr. Jordan! Is there something you need from Miss Lizlow, or are you just unsuccessfully trying to flirt with her?"

Lee's face burned and he quickly slid down in his chair; Meril began to chortle, but turned it into a cough when the professor turned her sharp gaze on her.

"That's what I thought. Now if I hear any more disturbances from either of you two, I am deducting ten points from Gryffindor. That goes for you, too, Mr. Weasley."

Fred immediately stopped his chuckling, an aghast expression taking over his face. "But I haven't said anything!"

"That's enough, Mr. Weasley," McGonagall told him with a stern look and once again returned to the lesson. Fred, Lee, Meril, and George, the only one of the group who she hadn't so much as looked at, all exchanged looks of disbelief and amusement before finally settling down for the remainder of the class.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

In Potions, things did not go much better for Meril than they had in Transfiguration. She didn't go in with any intention of causing any trouble, but it was just one of those days where everything she said that could be at all construed as rude or 'smart' was overheard by the teacher or who it was aimed at.

They were making Invigoration Draught, a potion used to invigorate the drinker and boost their energy. Meril didn't know anything else that it did, but she knew how to make it, and that was all she needed to do for the class.

Fred and George pressed in on either side of her, watching carefully what it was she was doing so they could attempt to copy her. As Snape swept around the classroom, they would quickly jump back to their own cauldron and proceed to look baffled and confused, only to bounce right back to Meril's side when he turned his back.

"Oh, so you just…Oh, alright. I see what I have to do," George whispered, nodding to himself. He turned back to his cauldron, just as Snape appeared behind Meril and Fred.

"Mr. Weasley," he said coldly; Meril gave a start. She hadn't heard or seen him approach, and yet there he was, hovering behind them, watching as Fred very clearly cheated off of her with his stone cold, black eyes. Slowly, Fred turned around with an air of complete calm about him. George also turned, unsure of whether or not he was being addressed. Both stared up at their professor expectantly.

"Do you think I'm blind?" Snape asked, his voice snide and cold as ever.

"No, sir," Fred answered.

"Then do you think me daft?"

"Well…" Fred hesitated.

"Maybe a little bit, yes," George finished, throwing himself into the fire along with his brother. Snape turned and glared at him. "Sir," George added, as if that was really the issue with his answer.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for your cheek, Mr. Weasley," Snape coolly declared, his cold eyes hardening. He turned then towards Meril.

" Miss Lizlow, did you _honestly_ think I didn't notice that these," he cast a dirty look at Fred, and then at George, "_buffoons_ were copying your potion? I always thought you irritating, but never stupid."

"That, sir," Meril replied with ease, "is a very twisted compliment."

"Five points from both the Mr. Weasleys for cheating and ten from Miss Lizlow for letting them." And with that, he swept away.

A wave of sighs went through the room and, one by one, the Gryffindors turned around and stared at the three. Fred and George merely winked and smirked at them before setting back to their work. Meril, however, glared back until each had turned back around in their seat.

Lee was the only Gryffindor in the whole room who wasn't feeling any anger towards them at that moment, even though it was a total of forty points the three had lost between Transfiguration and Potions.

"Now, what do you think that this potion does? It is called the Invigoration Draught, but I didn't say much anything else about it." Snape paused and looked around the room. "No one? I should have expected as much." His eyebrow lifted and he looked over at Meril, a smirk on his horrible face. "Now even know-it-all Miss Lizlow, hm? I would have expected something from at least _you_."

Meril merely shrugged in response to this and then returned to stirring her potion. However, Snape was not going to leave it at just that.

"Why don't you tell us what you think this potion does?"

Meril looked up at her professor, glaring, and then looked back down at the Invigoration Draught in her cauldron, wondering what he expected her to say. It was deep yellow in color, but had no other distinctive qualities. There was nothing about the scent that gave away any properties of the mixture; no special properties of ingredients that stuck out in her mind. It was just….yellow.

She looked back up and stared straight at Snape, who stood halfway across the room from her, watching her expectantly. Then, without thinking, she said the one thought in her mind, "I think it makes me need to pee. Very badly."

"_Miss.__ Lizlow._ That is entirely inappropriate language for the classroom. Five points from Gryffindor."

"_Urinate_. I'm-sorry! I didn't realize such proper language was required in the Potions classroom."

Snape's black eyes narrowed further and the nostrils on his hooked nose began to flare. "Five more points from Gryffindor and a detention."

Meril's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?! Just because I told you what you asked me?! That isn't at all fair!"

"I would watch my tongue if I were you. You don't want any more detentions do you?"

"I don't give a rat's a--"

"What about House Points?"

Meril's jaw tightened as she looked around at all of her classmates, each looking at her imploringly and angrily both at once.

"No, sir. I don't want anymore points taken away," she forced herself to say. A simultaneous sigh of relief went through the Gryffindor side of the room, while the Slytherins all scowled.

Snape smiled with contempt; the class set back to work and he circled the room, captious as always. He found fault in every little thing the Gryffindors did, and gave most Slytherins praise they didn't deserve.

Meril calmly stirred her draught, adding ingredients as they were needed. Fred had turned to his other side and was receiving occasional help from Lee, though he did most on his own; his twin was resolved to figure it out himself. He bit his tongue whenever he turned to ask her something and he plugged his ears whenever she turned to offer a bit of advice.

"Fred!" Meril whined. "Your brother's really weird!"

Fred looked over at his twin, who was standing in front of his cauldron staring at its contents determinedly, fingers in his ears, his cheeks puffed out like a blowfish. He stared at George for a moment then blinked rapidly and looked away.

"Yes, well…"Fred drifted off, shook his head, and continued with his potion. Meril laughed and turned back to her own cauldron. She would let George figure it out himself that she had given up on helping him. For some odd reason, he was determined to do it all on his own for the rest of the potion. Perhaps Snape had actually had an effect on one of his students, or, more likely, George was just trying to save their points. It wasn't as if he would have any trouble winning back the people who would become homicidal if any more points were deducted because of him, Fred, or Meril, but it was just easier to not get into such a mess.

As Meril's potion came to its final stages and just needed to sit simmering for a few minutes, Meril raised her hand, thinking it was probably the best time for her to ask. At first, Snape ignored her waving hand, just as he did so often did. At last, though, he turned to Meril and sighed, "What?"

"May I please go use the restroom, sir? My potion just needs to sit for a few more minutes."

"No. I think you can wait until the end of class."

Meril looked up at the clock hanging in the front of the classroom. Class would end in around fifteen minutes. She had been waiting to go to the bathroom for almost twenty. She was _not_ waiting until the end of class. Once her potion was done and she handed him a vial, she was going.

The potion finished simmering and began to cool, changing to a peachy color as it did so. Meril filled up a vial, corked it, and labeled it with her name before rushing to the front of the classroom.

Snape raised an eyebrow and looked up at the clock. "How is it that you are finished before everyone else when this potion takes a set amount of time?"

"I started before everyone else."

His eyebrow somehow managed to climb even farther up his forehead. "How is that possible, if everyone started immediately after I finished giving directions?"

Meril's face grew hot despite herself. "I don't know, sir."

"Could you, perhaps, have started before I had given the go?"

"That would seem about correct. Yeah. I did," Meril replied with an affirmative nod.

"And how did you know what to do?"

"You put the directions on the board…right along with the ingredients…I had my own of everything that was needed, so while everyone else was getting theirs I read the directions and got started." She shrugged. "Is that a big deal?"

Professor Snape's eyes narrowed and his lips thinned. He glared at the student for a minute before snapping, "Go back to your seat."

Meril glanced at the clock. There were six minutes left of class. She calmly walked back to her seat, made an extra vial of the potion for herself, cleaned up her things, and left.

Snape heard the door creak open and looked up just in time to see Meril slip out. "Where do you think you're going, Miss Lizlow?"

Meril stuck her head back in. "To the bathroom; when a girl's gotta pee, a girl's gotta pee!" And with that she slipped back out into the hall and sprinted towards the bathroom. Yet she still heard the professor's angry cry of 'Detention!' before she rounded the corner.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

That had only been the Tuesday of Meril's second week as a fifteen-year-old. The rest of the week went much the same. She had at least five points deducted from Gryffindor a day, and got at least a threat for a detention every other period; only three more of those threats were acted upon.

Between class, acting up, homework, detention, and helping out Oliver with Quidditch practice, Meril's schedule was incredibly packed. She was beginning to feel like it was a miracle she remembered to breathe.

"You three are horrible influences," Meril groaned as she walked out of Charms, where she had just lost some more House Points.

"_We're_ bad influences on _you_?" Lee guffawed.

"Well, I never really specifically said on _me_, but yes! I mean, look at what I've become!"

Fred, George, and Lee all looked at her, as she had instructed. George's cheeks colored and he looked away, though neither Fred or Lee seemed to notice. Meril gave him an odd look before clearing her throat.

"I am losing House Points left and right all because I can't seem to control my urges!"

"Well how is that our fault?" Fred inquired, cocking an eyebrow at his friend.

"Well, if you remember how I was when you met me in our first year, and then compare that me to the me now, I think you will notice some severe changes."

"And you're blaming us for that?"

Meril paused and just stared at him, waiting for him to make connections with her words. However, he just stared back, waiting for the answer that wasn't going to come.

"Well?"

Meril threw her head back, letting out a long aggravated grunt. "Seriously? You think I just became the 'Dungbomb Queen' on my own? No one just goes from being a sweet little innocent ten-year-old to a prank-happy trouble maker without any influence from an outside party."

"Well how do you think _we _ended up the way we are? I mean, like you said, no one goes from being a sweet little innocent--" Fred cut himself taking a deep breath to stop himself from laughing. "Ten-year-o--" he started to continue, but started laughing before he reached the end of the thought. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just can't."

"You did much better with that than I would have," George laughed. "Us? Innocent ten-year-olds?"

"Exactly what I'm saying here. Thank you," Meril sighed. She glanced over at Lee with a raised eyebrow, silencing his chuckling. "Not that I'm complaining though. I quite enjoy this way of living."

"Amen to that!" Lee cheered.

"And we quite enjoy you living it," George added with a smile. Meril looked up at him and smiled brightly back. For a moment, their eyes locked onto one another's. His hazel eyes shimmered oddly as he stared back at her, causing the corners of Meril's mouth to fall in confusion. Slowly, she opened her mouth, only to close it again a second later, no sound having been able to escape.

"Meril? Are you alright?" Lee asked. He waved a hand in front of her face, but she didn't blink, and she didn't speak.

There was something in George's eyes as he stared at her. Meril was used to there being a little mischievous sparkle in them, but the way they shone right then; it was something quite different.

"George, stop hypnotizing Meril, please," Lee requested.

"Sorry," George murmured. He blinked and slowly turned his head to look down at Lee. The corners of his lips faltered slightly before picking back up into a grin. "I told you I didn't need a pendulum to hypnotize anyone." He looked back at Meril, winking.

Meril turned her head, giggling. For once she avoided blushing as George flashed a smirk at her.

"Are you good now Meril?" Lee inquired, poking his face in front of hers. Meril blinked confusedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"You looked a little sick before. Kind of like you were going to throw up."

"Oh. No, no. I was fine; AM fine. Just a little hungry actually. Why don't we hurry along to the Great Hall and get some lunch before my stomach comes out of my throat."

Meril grabbed onto Lee's arm and plowed ahead. Behind them, Fred and George exchanged looks and then jogged after them, for once the followers rather than the leaders.

The four burst through the great doors within a few minutes' time. Lee tore away from Meril's grasp as soon as he noticed Angelina's eyes sweeping towards them.

"Sorry," he quickly apologized, flashing a bright grin. He dashed to the Gryffindor table, sliding into an empty seat by Angelina and Alicia. Meril chuckled, shaking her head.

"The only time I've ever seen him move that fast was when you stuck a fish down his pants," Meril calmly commented, turning towards Fred. The redhead broke out into a giant grin.

"Oh yes…I remember that day…" Fred stared nostalgically into the air, his smile broadening.

"Me, too. Though I do remember a time when he ran even faster than that," George added, chortling.

Meril's eyebrows furrowed together as she looked towards the other twin. "No way! The only things he runs for are Angelina, food, and to get things out of his pants."

"And when he's scared."

Fred and Meril both still looked confused, so with a sigh, George elaborated.

"Remember. Lee was late to Transfiguration one day, which pissed McGonagall off, of course, and then he accidentally turned her hat into a duck. She just about blew a fuse. He ran in a mad sprint all around the classroom and then out into the hall, just to get away from her. Bloody hilarious."

Fred started laughing. "Oh yeah! I remember that. That was last year, right?"

George nodded, and Fred started laughing even harder.

"His legs were flailing like crazy. And his face--" Fred mimicked it, his eyes widening and his mouth dropping. He and George broke into a fit of laughter as Meril giggled awkwardly.

"Guys-guys! Not that this isn't funny," Meril interrupted, growing steadily agitated as the laughter didn't die down, "but I am going to go get food. Join me if you want."

Meril swept off towards the table, her stomach growling as she looked at the delectable food waiting for her. She spotted an empty seat close by and picked up her speed, but just as she was about to reach it, someone grabbed her elbow, pulling her back.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" Meril snapped. She grabbed the hand off of her elbow and was about to throw it down when she realized who it was. "Oh. Hey, Ollie. Uh, sorry about that…"

"It's fine. No worries. Look, there was something I needed to talk to you about…"

"Yeah, sure. What's up?"

Oliver pulled Meril aside, a serious look on his face.

"I've just found out that Slytherin isn't playing tomorrow."

Meril hesitated for a moment, not sure what he meant. Then, realizing it was _Oliver Wood_ she was talking to, she mentally slapped herself. Quidditch. Of course.

"What? What do you mean? Of course Slytherin is playing tomorrow!"

"No; they've cancelled."

"What possible reason could they have for that? They are always looking for some excuse to prove they are '_better_' than us."

"Apparently one of the players can't play."

"Ollie, _none_ of their players can actually play. That's no excuse."

A huge, booming laugh escaped Oliver and he broke into a brief smile. "Well we all know that. But Malfoy's arm is apparently still too injured to play with."

"Oh, bollocks! That little turd is a liar! He was never even injured to begin with; I'd bet on it!"

Oliver sighed, all traces of his former smile gone. "That may be true, but that doesn't matter now. They've already cancelled, and now _Hufflepuff_ is replacing them. **_HUFFLEPUFF_**! Their strategy is _totally_ different! What we've been practicing…who knows how it will work on them!"

"If anyone would know, you would, Ollie. Why are you asking me?"

He didn't answer; instead, he just sighed again and threw his arms up in agitation. "They couldn't have chosen a worse time to withdraw from the game. It's _tomorrow._ Even with practice tonight, there's nothing we can do to change our plans effectively."

"Well, that's exactly why they pulled out now; you know that. They're smart enough to know that we were banking on facing them. Them pulling out messes everything up."

"Oh, bloody hell!" Oliver screamed, causing a lot of people to turn and look at them. Meril grabbed Oliver's hand and shushed him,

"Deep breaths, Ollie. You'll figure out what to do. You are like…the Quidditch _master._ I really need to go eat now though, I'm sorry. Oh! And I can't make the game tomorrow. I've got detention."

Oliver frowned briefly before shaking it off. "That's fine. You'll be at practice though, right?"

"Uh…I think so?"

"Well, alright."

And with that and one more irritated sigh, Oliver walked away. As he did, Meril suddenly recalled that she had detention that night, too.

"Oh, bollocks. Oliver!" she called.

He didn't hear her.

Meril shrugged and took the seat nearest her. Humming quietly to herself, she began piling food onto her plate. She didn't notice, at first, the eyes that seemed to be gorging into her. As the minutes went by, however, and her stomach was slowly satiated, she began to have the odd suspicion that someone was watching her.

Hesitantly, she lifted her eyes and looked about the Great Hall. At last, she zoned in on the offender; Amy Smith sat very tall at the Ravenclaw table, her brown eyes narrowed darkly in Meril's direction. Catching Amy's eye, Meril glared right back and stuck out her tongue.

The Ravenclaw's lip curled up in a snarl. Then, with a swish of her short, blonde hair, she looked away. A crowd of people passed by in front of Meril's vision. When they had gone, Amy was no where to be found.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril returned from detention relatively early that night. She stumbled into the Common Room and found only a few people scattered about it. Her favorite seat in the corner of the room was empty, just the way she liked it. Dashing up to her room she grabbed her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and hurried back down.

With a satisfied smile she slumped down into her chair and pulled her homework onto her lap. She had to work on a dream journal for Divination, an essay on constellations for Astronomy, reading and notes in History of Magic, and Arithmancy problems. And, since she had detentions all weekend, she really needed to get started. As usual, she let it sit untouched in favor of more entertaining things.

She pulled her Arithmancy textbook and some parchment towards her. Then, carefully, she began the long complicated problems. They were more difficult than she remembered them being, but soon enough she was finished with them and able to move onto the next thing.

Meril was just starting to work on her History of Magic assignment when Fred, George, and Lee all trudged into the room, followed closely by the rest of the Quidditch team.

"You guys are just getting back?" she asked as Katie Bell past by her.

The fourth year stopped abruptly and looked for who was asking her. Spotting Meril in the large chair in the corner, covered by books, she nodded. "Yeah. Oliver was working us like a slave driver. Can you believe that we're facing _Hufflepuff_ instead of Slytherin? They have totally different strategies!"

"Yeah, tell me about it," Meril murmured. Immediately after saying that, she regretted it, afraid that Katie would take her literally. She didn't need another Oliver-fit right then.

Thankfully though, Katie was not the literal type. She just shook her head I disbelief, completely silent. After a moment, she looked back up at Meril, a confused look on her face.

"Hey, where were you at practice? You're usually around. Were you stuck here doing homework?"

"No. I had detention. I got back earlier than I thought, though, and I assumed you guys were back already so I just headed here to do some homework." She lifted her History of Magic textbook as if to prove this to Katie.

"Oh, okay. Well, I'm tired. I'll see you around Meril!"

"Yeah. Bye Katie."

The Chaser waved before disappearing up the spiral staircase into her dorm. Meril sighed and buried herself back into her homework. As usual, Professor Binns was doing a wonderful job at putting her to sleep with his assignments. If only that was his intention all along.

"Meril! What are you doing over there?!"

Fred's loud voice suddenly shot through the silent room. Slowly, Meril lifted her head and blinked at him.

"…Homework…"

"Ew. Stop poisoning your mind and get over here!"

Meril laughed, shaking her head. "I really need to get this done."

Fred, George, and Lee exchanged laughing looks. Then, simultaneously, they hopped over the back of the sofa, walked up to Meril, grabbed her arms, and dragged her back to the couch with them.

"Guys! I don't appreciate this!" Meril complained, laughing as they dumped her onto the couch. "At least bring my stuff over, too!"

Fred and George plopped down on either side of Meril as Lee meandered back to the seat in the corner. He dumped everything into Meril's bag then dragged it along behind him back to the couch.

"Thank, Dreads."

"No problem, Queenie."

The three boys started talking amongst each other, laughing raucously, as Meril continued with her homework. It was near impossible to concentrate now that she was with the boys. Not only were they loud, funny, attention-grabbing, and her friends, but whenever Fred or George moved Meril seemed to notice; if one laughed, her ears immediately tuned in and she got lost in the sound; when they played with their gorgeous ginger locks, she could smell them more acutely than before; and if one of them brushed against her—which George was doing a lot, since she separated him from the other two—her whole body tensed and then melted.

Somehow she managed to finish her notes for History of Magic, though they seemed to lack real quality. But, as long as it was done, Meril didn't even care.

She threw her book and her parchment carelessly into her bag.

"You're done?" George asked. His whole body had lifted, and he was watching Meril very carefully, a half smile on his lips as he waited for her answer.

"Uh…yeah, I guess I could be for now…"

"Good," George smiled.

"Yeah. So…What were you guys talking about?"

All three of them shrugged. "Nothing really," Lee said.

"Well that is fascinating!" Meril exclaimed. "I can really see why you were all cracking up! I was really missing out!"

"Yes you were! Doing homework! Pfft! What a waste!" Fred agreed with a solemn nod.

Meril rolled her eyes. "It's not a waste if you actually want to get out of here." She gasped, her hand shooting to her mouth. "I can't believe I just said that!"

"What?"

"That homework _wasn't _a waste. Oh Merlin, just take me now and wash my mouth out with soap a thousand times."

"Yeah, really. You must want to _really_ get out of here," Lee commented.

Meril snorted. "I wouldn't say that."

"Then what would you say?" George wondered. He cocked his head to the side. His hair fell into his eyes. Instinctively, Meril brushed it away, since he clearly wasn't going to. Her fingers lingered across his face, and an odd smile came over her lips. He furrowed his brows, but remained silent, watching her carefully.

Meril felt eyes on her and she quickly withdrew her hand. "I'm just saying we can't stay here forever, and I don't want to anyway. I'm in no rush to leave, but I will eventually be ready for other things. You guys will be, too, and won't you want to be able to go when that time comes?"

"Of course," the three boys answered, once again in complete unison.

"But not yet," Fred admitted. "There are still some things here for us—or for me, anyway."

"Exactly my point," Meril said. She turned towards Fred and smiled warmly.

There was an awkward sort of silence following this. The four all leaned back and just stared ahead of them, occasionally glancing over at the others.

"Were you glad to come back to Hogwarts?" George eventually asked.

"Of course!" Meril exclaimed, aghast. "Why wouldn't I be? I _hated_ those other places. I mean, sure, I had friends at the Boot Camp, but it was awful. And the German school…" She shuddered and said no more.

Another pause followed this. Meril found herself stuck in memories of the past two years.

"I actually made a pro-con list, you know."

Fred, George, and Lee all looked at her, both interested and disgusted. Pro-con lists were not made by people like Meril, Fred, George, or Lee.

"About Hogwarts. I was trying to think of things I didn't like so that I wouldn't feel so horrid being away from it. Needless to say, it didn't work too well. I found almost nothing I didn't like, and I was miserable." She sighed, letting her head fall into her lap as she rubbed her hands together

Fred's voice broke through the silence as he asked, "Did _we _fall anywhere on those lists?" He indicated George, Lee, and himself, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Meril laughed. "I didn't take people into account either way, because I thought that that would just make things worse," she recalled. "However, you'd be on my pro list. Well, you and George would be anyway. Lee I'm not so sure about…"

Lee's face dropped. He looked so dejected, Meril couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm just kidding, Lee! You know I love you! All three of you would be on my pro list. You didn't think I was actually serious, did you?"

Lee blushed and ducked his head. "Of course not."

Meril's jaw dropped and she laughed. "You _did_! Oh, Lee! I never thought you were so gullible!" She quickly jumped up and went over to him, giving him a big hug.

"There, there Lee; it's all better now." She gently pat his puffy head, smiling.

"Meril…"

"Hm?"

"Get off of me."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The lit in the fireplace was dim and all Gryffindors had long since gone to bed, all except one.

Meril still sat in the Common Room, scribbling away at her Astronomy Essay. Her eyelids were drooping, but at least this was the last of her assignments. She had filled in her dream journal with all the real dreams she could remember, and then made up the rest.

The Astronomy essay was easy enough, but her only references were her brain and her textbook, since she was banned from the library still. At least it was a subject she was good at.

She felt her eyelids drooping more and more. She found that she was starting to merely scribble along the parchment as she stopped concentrating.

"Meril?" a groggy voice whispered into the silence. Meril turned to look over her shoulder but could only make out the silhouette of a boy. He came plodding towards her, and as he did so his yawns could be heard.

"Meril, what are you still doing up?"

Meril slurred some form of an answer and pointed at the parchment.

"You should go to sleep," Lee yawned. "Come on, I'll help you get back to the stairs; from there you have to go up on your own though. Can you do that?"

"Yeah," Meril yawned. She accepted Lee's hand and struggled to her feet. She was vaguely aware of him packing all of her things carefully away into her bag and shouldering it.

"Come on," Lee instructed. Slowly, they walked towards the staircase. As they approached it, Lee nudged Meril in front of him. She collapsed onto the staircase.

"Are you going to go upstairs, Mer?" Lee asked, sounding very fatherly.

"Yeah," Meril yawned once again.

"You promise?"

"Yeah."

Lee looked disbelievingly at her before handing her bag over. He then slowly backed away towards his staircase. As soon as he turned to walk up the stairs, a light snore could be heard. He whirled around, and there Meril was, sprawled across the staircase, fast asleep.

Shaking his head, Lee walked back over to her and carefully gathered her into his arms. With some difficulty he slid her bag onto his arm and up onto his shoulder.

Somehow he managed to get up his staircase and into the dorm. It was silent; Fred, George, Scott, and Shane were all asleep. Lee crept across the floor to his bed and dumped Meril onto it.

"Lee?" Meril grumbled. Lee paused before his chest and looked at her expectantly.

"Yes Meril?"

"Thank you."

He smiled warmly. "Of course. Now go to sleep."

"But…"

Lee sighed. "What?"

"I'm not in my pajamas. I can't go to sleep knowing I'm not prepared for it."

"I don't have your pajamas though."

"Oh. Okay…" Meril yawned and rested her head against the pillows, her eyes open as she stared over at George, whose bed was next to Lee's.

"If you want, you can wear some of mine though," Lee said with a sigh. Meril turned slowly towards him and smiled brightly.

"Alright!"

Lee dug a t-shirt and some boxer shorts from his trunk, along with a bung of blankets.

"Here you go, Mer," he said, handing her the shirt and shorts.

"Turn around," she commanded.

Lee rolled his eyes and turned away. Meril changed as quickly as she could and then buried herself back underneath the blankets of Lee's bed.

"Can I turn yet?"

He waited, but there was no answer. A moment later, more deep breathing was added to the chorus of the room. Taking this to mean that Meril had fallen back to sleep, Lee turned and prepared his bed on the floor.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Sunlight streamed through the windows onto Meril's face. She groaned and turned over, burying her face into the pillow. Instinctively, she drew back; that was _not_ her pillow. It had too much of a boy-scent to it.

Her eyes opened wide as she looked around the room. Blankets were thrown carelessly about; clothes hung over chairs and bed posts. Why on earth was she in a boys' dorm?

Cautiously, she rose from bed, swinging her legs onto the floor. There was a make-shift bed made of blankets between the bed she was in and another bed.

A green sweater poked out of the chest of that other bed. Without even checking, Meril suddenly knew that that was George's 'G' sweater that his mother made him every Christmas.

"What the bloody hell am I doing here?"

And she was alone, too. All the guys were gone. But where? There was no class that day…

A note on the bedside table suddenly caught her attention. Mechanically, she reached for it.

Meril,

Hey. We've all gone to the Quidditch game. I tried to wake you up but you just grumbled something unintelligible and grabbed my face with one hand. Thanks again for that.  
Your clothes are on top of my chest at the foot of my bed. I'll see you later!

--Lee

Meril cocked her eyebrow at the last line. Why were her clothes not on her? She could have sworn that they were. However, looking down, she noticed she was wearing a large black t-shirt and bright orange boxers. Just as Lee had said, her clothes were sitting on the chest at the foot of his bed.

"This is very weird…" Meril commented. Shaking her head, she grabbed her clothes and her schoolbag and headed out of there as fast as she could.

The Common Room was abandoned; everyone was at the pitch.

"I wonder if the game is almost over… I should probably head over once I--" Meril froze, staring up at the clock. "Oh, bollocks! I've got detention on ten minutes!"

She flew up to her dorm, changed into jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, then sprinted to the dungeons, where Professor Snape would be waiting for her.

"You're late."

Meril, eight minutes after sprinting out of the dorm, arrived at Snape's office, out of breath. She thought she had made good time, but apparently not.

"Sorry Pro—Filch?"

Filch stood outside of Snape's office, scowling as usual. Mrs. Norris wound herself around his legs, purring as she stared hauntingly up at Meril with her bright yellow eyes.

"Where's Snape?"

"At the Quidditch match. He left me in charge," Filch informed her; his horrible, twisted smile spread across his face.

"Okay…So what will I be doing then?"

Out of nowhere, Filch grabbed a bucket and thrust it at Meril. "You'll be collecting plants from the lake."

"…_Why_?"

Filch's smile broadened. "As a punishment."

"Yeah, I get that; but is there some sort of _goal_ with this? And I mean _besides_ 'teaching me a lesson.'"

"If you find anything good, it will go into the potions store cupboard. Now stop asking questions and get going. Annoying little brats, think they always know more than everyone else…" He trailed off, mumbling to himself as he led Meril out to the lake. As if she didn't know how to get there. Really.

They quickly reached the lake and Meril set to work. She removed her shoes and socks and rolled up her jeans as far as she could. Then, grabbing the bucket, she slowly walked into the water.

It was freezing.

And the pouring, blinding rain didn't help matters.

A silent scream got trapped in Meril's throat. For one moment, she remained in the water. Then, jumping out, she screamed, "That's bloody freezing in there?! What are you at, making me search for plants in there in bloody _November_?!"

Filch snickered, but he made no reply.

"I'm not going back in there," Meril stubbornly informed him.

"You'll do what you're told, missy; you're under _my_ watch, now, and I won't take any of your nonsense. Now get!"

Meril glared harshly at the groundskeeper before walking back into the lake. Grinding her teeth together, she began searching for plants.

There weren't many.

Fifteen minutes into it, Filch disappeared, but Mrs. Norris took his place. She just sat there, staring intently at Meril. Scowling, Meril cupped some water in her hand and flung it at the cat.

She didn't even flinch.

"Devil cat," Meril murmured, shaking her head.

"So you've taken to talking to yourself now, hm?" a familiar voice sneered in reply.

"Yup. You got me," Meril answered, turning around. There stood Amy Smith, smiled contemptuously at Meril with her hands placed firmly on her hips. "But at least I do it out of choice and not because no one else will willingly talk to me."

Meril flashed a sweet-looking smile then turned her back, returning to her work.

That was a mistake.

Amy hurled a stick at Meril's head. Her aim had apparently improved since the last time Meril had fought her. Back then, she couldn't hit a brick wall a foot in front of her face.

"What. The. Bloody_ hell_. Is Your. Problem?!" Meril growled, slowly turned back to face the hated Ravenclaw.

"I thought that was pretty clear. But I guess to a _Gryffindor_ maybe it wouldn't be."

"Oh don't even start on that. No one even knows how you got _into_ Ravenclaw in the first place. Maybe you actually had an advanced thought on your mind during the sorting or something, but you haven't had one since."

Amy's eyes narrowed. "You know nothing about me. Why don't you just shut the bloody hell up?"

Meril smirked. "I may know '_nothing_' about you, but at least I actually know things."

"And that's exactly why you got into Gryffindor."

"It's not all about book smarts, you ninny! And shut the hell up about Gryffindor. You have no real reason to insult us, and you know it. Besides, my house has nothing to do with your problem with me."

"You're right about something for once, Lizlow."

"Well that makes me one ahead of you, doesn't it?" A phony sweet smile once again spread across Meril's face.

Amy's lips tightened and her eyes narrowed. A growl emitted from her throat, and she looked as if she wanted to rip out Meril's throat.

"Is there anything else you would like to say to me, or can I get back to my detention?"

"You're in detention? I shouldn't be surprised. You always are, after all. I guess that reforming camp didn't really work on you, did it?"

"You're not dead yet, are you?"

"Like you could kill me," Amy scoffed, flicking her short blonde hair over her shoulder.

Meril raised her eyebrows. "Really? Now you think you're tougher than me?"

Amy shrugged. "Maybe. But that's an argument for another time. Because I have something I need to discuss with you now."

"No, we can talk about it now. Because honestly? I don't give a _hoot_ about what you want to talk to me about."

"And I don't care if you want to inflate your ego; you may have beaten me in a fight before, but that is never going to happen again. So why don't you let some air out of that big head of yours and get back down to earth?"

Meril cocked her head to the side. "You think I have a big head? You're the one who was just insinuating that she was some sort of genius."

"You said you were smarter than me."

"Okay, first off—never said those exact words. And secondly, that's really not bragging. It doesn't take much to be smarter than you."

"And it doesn't take much to be tougher than you," Amy retorted.

Both stewed for a moment, glaring at the other with hatred burning in their eyes. Meril turned away first. Shaking her head, she continued searching the lake for plants, finding it much preferable to continuing any form of discussion with Amy Smith.

However, Amy was not about to let up that easily.

"How has your memory been lately, Meril?"

"My memory is the same as it's ever been, weirdo. Pretty good."

"Well then I am sure you remember a discussion we had not too long ago; the beginning of October, I believe…."

"I'm not sure….I tend to block anything involving you from my memory…"

"Well then, allow me to remind you—Stay away from Oliver."

"Oliver…?"

"Wood. And don't play dumb; you knew who I was talking about."

"Okay, I'll admit to that. But why should I stay away from him? He's my friend. And I don't even think he knows who you are…"

Amy pursed her lips. "Very funny."

"I wasn't joking."

"And neither am I. Stay away from Oliver Wood, Meril. I'm giving you your second warning now. You only get one more."

"Before what?"

"Before you get into serious trouble?"

"With whom?"

"Me."

Meril barked a laugh. "Right. Okay, Amy. Why don't you stop threatening me before _you_ get into some trouble?"

"Was that a threat?"

"No; merely a suggestion."

Once again Meril turned her back to Amy to return to what she had been sent out to do. It took so much self-control for her to not whip around and slap Amy silly as she stood there, watching and commenting on Meril.

"How did you end up the way you are anyway?" Amy suddenly asked. "Like, why are you so into fighting? Does your mom neglect you a lot and you're mad about it?"

"No, my mom doesn't neglect me, and the only _thing_ I am mad at is you."

Amy didn't acknowledge this comment and just continued. "No, no; I bet it was your dad. He probably insulted you a lot; beat you and your mom. When you fell down, he'd probably scream and tell you to get stronger, so you learned to fight? Am I right?"

Meril bit her lip until it bled, trying to hard to restrain herself from punching Amy's lights out.

"Well? Am I right? I am, aren't I? Your dad is a monster, and you are just trying to live up to his expectations. What did he say when you got sent to Boot Camp? I bet he whipped you real good, didn't he?"

"Shut. Up."

"Why? You don't want anyone to know?"

"Stop. Talking."

"I bet your mom joins in, too. When she's home, anyway. I heard you say once she's gone a lot. What does she do? Is she some sort of criminal? Maybe a prostitute?"

Meril's eyes started to tear up and her body was trembling.

"Your dad probably liked her because of that, right?"

"**_Shut up!!_**"

Meril turned around and punched Amy in the face, tears welling in her eyes. "You don't even know what you're talking about, moron."

"Did your dad teach you that move?"

"My dad is _dead_, so just shut up! You don't even know what you're talking about!"

Meril smacked her again, leaving a red mark. "And my mom is a travel guide, not a prostitute! So why don't you go shove a fork down your throat before you say anything else that's going to make you look like a retard," she growled.

Amy lunged at Meril, but she dodged, tripping the older, blonde girl. Then, grabbing the plants she had collected so far, she waited for Amy to stand and then threw them in her face.

Amy spit, shaking them off. Reaching forward, she grabbed onto Meril's hair and pulled her by it. "Just stay away from Oliver, okay?"

"How about no, and you stop making up nonsense about my parents?" Meril suggested, elbowing Amy in the stomach. She was about to get away, but Amy acted quick, getting her into a headlock.

"Let. Go. Of. _Me!"_ Meril grunted. She bit Amy's arm then, as she pulled away, kneed her in the groin. Amy reached for Meril's throat, but just before she could grab it Meril whirled around and hit her in the head with the bucket.

As Amy fell to her knees, dizzy, Filch came into view, smiling that wicked smile as ever before.

"Oh, you_ are_ in trouble now."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril and Amy were both brought to McGonagall's office and were soon joined by Flitwick. Both were greatly reprimanded and given three detentions each—which they were to serve together so that maybe they would learn to get along.

After Amy and Professor Flitwick left, Meril was left sitting awkwardly with McGonagall who kept pacing and tutting.

At last, she turned to Meril and began her private talking-to.

"I am very disappointed in you. I really thought that you had changed since you left, but you are quite the same. Talking out in class, not doing homework, getting into trouble…" She sighed. "I don't know what I am going to do with you."

"I didn't _want_ to get in a fight. I was just serving my detention when she came up to me. I admit I wasn't being terribly nice verbally, but she started it. I turned to go back to work and she threw a stick at my head."

McGonagall raised her eyebrows incredulously. "Somehow it always someone else who starts the fights."

"Professor, it really wasn't me. I tried so hard to not hit her, but then she started making stuff up about my parents as explanations for why I 'am the way I am' and I just lost it."

Just as the professor opened her mouth the speak again, there came a soft knock at the door. Her lips tightened once more and she swept over.

"Yes?" she curtly greeted as she threw the door open. An Asian boy stood there looking a little hesitant. He looked vaguely familiar to Meril, but she hadn't the slightest clue who he was.

He ran his hand quickly through his messy hair before speaking. "Good morning, Professor. I was just walking by and I heard what was going on here. I just wanted to say that everything Meril here is saying is true."

Well he knew who she was.

That was only slightly disturbing.

McGonagall looked incredulous, so the boy went on to explain.

"I didn't go to the Quidditch game. I had some homework. So I was in the Library and I looked out the window and I saw Meril alone; then that blonde girl walked up to her. They exchanged a few words, Meril turned back to the water; the blonde picked up a stick and threw it at Meril's head. She _still_ didn't start anything. They just talked—I guess argued—for a while until Meril snapped."

"Okay, well….thank you," the Professor said. The boy nodded then left, leaving Meril and McGonagall alone once more.

The professor sighed, shaking her head. "You can go now, Lizlow."

Meril nodded and slowly stood. Watching McGonagall, she walked to the door. "So, am I still in trouble?"

"Of course you are, Lizlow," she answered, incredulous that Meril could even ask something like that.

"Fine, fine. But do you still think I'm the same as I was before?"

Professor McGonagall hesitated, struggling with an answer. At last she admitted, "No. I have to say that you _have_ changed since you left. Although you're still a pain in my behind."

Meril laughed. "As long as I've changed and there's no risk of me having to go again, then I'm fine with that!"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril ended up seeing the game after all, but not live. After escaping from McGonagall's, she ran up to her room and pulled out the miniature Quidditch pitch that the twins had made her.

It was difficult to see what was going on through the rain and the clouds, but she did get to watch the game. She got to see the dementors swarming onto the pitch. She saw Gryffindor be defeated as Harry plummeted to the ground and Cedric caught the snitch, completely unaware of what happened.

She saw as Dumbledore angrily got up and forced the dementors to leave. She saw Harry be taken off in a stretcher. She saw Cedric land down and talk with Madam Hooch. She saw Heather shove her way through the crowds trying to get back to the castle and throw her arms around Cedric, kissing him.

Meril scowled. She wanted to be able to say that that wouldn't have happened if _she_ was still on the team. But she couldn't. Those dementors would have made her fall, too, more than likely. And Harry really was brilliant.

So, instead of dwelling over that, Meril put the invention away, slipped into a sweater, and ran back out into the castle, prepared to find Cedric and congratulate him on his win.

Humming to herself, Meril hopped down the stairs. As she turned to go to the basement where the Hufflepuff common room was, a hand shot out from the side and roughly grabbed Meril.

"Amy, we're not doing this again!" Meril snapped, slapping Amy in the face.

Only it wasn't Amy.

It was George.

He scowled and rubbed his cheek. "Jeez, for someone who doesn't want to start something that was an awfully hard slap."

"Sorry, George. I thought you were Amy." She smiled sheepishly. All George did, though, was continue to scowl and rub at his red cheek. Meril rolled her eyes. "Aw, Georgie. Do you want me to kiss it and make it better?"

First, he flushed scarlet. Then, smiling cheekily, he pointed at his cheek. "Right there, if you would."

Meril rolled her eyes again and gave George's cheek a quick peck. Both blushed deeply then quickly looked away.

"So, where were you headed?" George asked.

"Uh…to find…Heather…"

"And Cedric?" George asked, his eyes narrowing.

"No…Why would I be looking for him?"

"I don't know; to congratulate him?"

Meril sighed. "Fine, fine. You caught me."

"Do I know you or what?"

"What."

George stuck out his tongue. "You're so funny."

"I know." Meril grinned. "Well, I'll see you later! I have to go find Heather!"

As the brunette began to walk off, George grabbed onto her hand and pulled her back. "Oh no you don't. You don't get to congratulate our defeators so soon. You're coming with me."

Meril protested, but George simply picked her up underneath the arms and carried her in front of him. Meril's face turned into a deep scowl.

"The least you could do is carry me on your back."

"Fine, fine."

They stopped. George crouched down so that Meril could climb onto his back; she didn't even try to run away. The prospect of getting a piggy-back ride from George gave her too much pleasure. Quickly, she scrambled on, hugging him tightly, ignoring the mud which still covered his clothes. She was still filthy and wet, too; what would a little more dirt hurt?

"Happy now?" George straightened and looked back at Meril, smiling.

"You don't even know," Meril replied, a smug edge to her voice. That wasn't at all how she felt though. Holding tightly to him like that, she felt farm all over. When he turned back around her face broke out into a smile, like a song without words, only a feeling.

George half-ran through the corridors, but Meril paid no attention as to where they went. Her eyes were closed and she was just enjoying the feeling of holding so tightly to George, breathing him in.

When they arrived at the Hospital Wing, a feeling of dread filled Meril. She knew they weren't there for her, but she had a sinking suspicion about who they _were_ there for.

"Off you get," George said. He backed up against an empty bed then dropped her. Meril laughed as she fell onto her back and George helped her back up.

The two laughed, but it quickly died as they joined a crowd surrounding a bed. George led Meril towards the front where Fred was.

"Lucky the ground was so soft," someone commented.

"I thought he was dead for sure."

"But he didn't even break his glasses."

Whisperings quite like these went around the little group. Meril stood there feeling more than uncomfortable and with no way of getting out. George and Fred stood on either side of her and others stood behind, leaving her no way too make an easy getaway.

_Confound it all_, she pouted I her mind.

"That was the scariest thing I'd ever seen in my life," Alicia's voice said. Meril looked for her but couldn't find her. Everyone else was too tall for her to see around.

Suddenly, Harry's eyes snapped open. Immediately, everyone stopped their comments and stared at him.

"Harry!" Fred exclaimed. Underneath all the mud that covered him, he was quite pale.

"What happened?" Harry asked after a moment's hesitation. He sat up so quickly it caused everyone around him to gasp.

"You fell off. Must've been—what—fifty feet?" Fred replied. He looked around at the others to see if he was right; some nodded in agreement while others paid him no heed at all.

"We thought you'd died," Alicia commented, her voice shaking.

Someone squeaked. Meril recognized her as the bushy haired girl who had accompanied Ron to her party.

"But the match. What happened? Are we doing a replay?"

Of course all he was concerned was the game, not his health. Meril rolled her eyes.

"We didn't—_lose_?" Harry, after only silence answered him, asked, feeling both grim and aghast.

"Diggory got the Snitch," George answered. "Just after you fell. He didn't realize what had happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a rematch. But they won fair and square…even Wood admits it."

"Where is Wood?"

Meril hadn't realized his absence either.

"Still in the showers. We think he's trying to drown himself," Fred said, bringing a bit of humor to the scene, though Meril didn't doubt what he said.

Harry put his head on his knees and didn't speak. Fred and George exchanged somewhat anxious looks.

Grabbing Harry's shoulder, Fred said, "C'mon, Harry, you've never missed the Snitch before."

"There had to be one time you didn't get it," George added.

"It's not over yet. We lost by a hundred points, right? So if Hufflepuff loses to Ravenclaw and we beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin…"

Meril noticed an opening in the people and quickly slipped through. No one would miss her. Harry wasn't her friend; she wasn't on the team. She had no business there.

Meril slid quietly out into the hallway and found Cedric and Heather hurrying along through it. Cedric was still muddy and his face white as a sheet. Seeing Meril, he sped up.

"Is he alright?" he asked hurriedly.

"Yeah, he's fine. Just upset about the game. He doesn't even care he fell fifty feet."

Cedric's face was both relieved and upset. "There should be a rematch," he said, hanging his head.

"No, there shouldn't be. You won fair and square. You guys deserved to win. Congratulations."

"Yeah," Heather agreed. She flashed a smile at Meril. "I have been trying to explain that to him since the game ended, but he just won't listen. And Madam Hooch won't listen to _him_, so…"

Meril laughed. "Yeah…"

The three all stood awkwardly for a moment.

"Right, well…" Meril said. "Uh, if you two want to be alone I can just…go…"

"No! No, it's fine!" Heather assured her. "Cedric was just coming to check on Harry, and then he was going to shower, so, I'm free."

"Okay," Meril said, smiling.

"Okay." Heather turned to Cedric. Getting onto her tip-toes, she put her hands on his chest and kissed him tenderly. The two smiled at each other brightly. "Bye, Ced. I'll talk to you later tonight."

"Alright, Heath. Love you."

"I love you, too," Heather said. They kissed again and then Cedric, taking a deep breath, went into the Hospital Wing. Heather, infatuation still all over her face, turned towards Meril.

"Alright, Babs," she said, hooking arms with her. "I wanted to talk to _you_ about Christmas break…"

* * *

**a/n** Alright, that is all that I have written so far. I am currently working on Chapter Twenty-five. Yay! Haha. I hope you have enjoyed this story so far. Please let me know via. review or private message or something. I lvoe to hear feedback. Thanks so much!

xox

* * *


	26. Holiday Bound

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Five—  
**Holiday Bound

* * *

The first thoughts of Christmas came with the first snowfall of the season in mid-November. From there on out, the holidays were almost the only thing that was thought of among the students. After the fright at Halloween, almost every student was going home. No parents wanted their students to be at Hogwarts when they could be safe at home, away from the possibility of another break-in. And, truth be told, no students _really_ wanted to be there themselves.

Sooner than anyone knew it, December was upon them. Meril began another countdown until the day they left, singing whenever there was a silence and any other time she felt it necessary. The fourth year boy was once again a victim of Meril's screeching voice, along with countless others. Many of the younger students attempted to shrink away whenever they saw Meril skipping down the corridor; they were terrified.

"Just a few more hours now!" Meril exclaimed on the night of December 13 as she crawled into bed.

"Don't you _dare_ start singing now," Angelina grumbled. "I don't want to have nightmares again tonight." She rolled over on her bed so that her back faced Meril.

"Oh come on, Angie! It isn't that bad!"

"Yes it is," she grumbled, pulling her blankets closer around her. "It's ruining the idea of vacation for me."

"I would have thought it would make you more eager to get away from me."

"Yes, you would think so. Now good night, Meril."

"Nighty-night Angie!" Meril smiled and settled down into bed. Christmas was on the horizon. Finally. "I'm just so excited!" she exclaimed. She propped herself back on her elbow and looked over at Angelina. The Chaser's body tensed noticeably.

"Meril?"

"Mm-hm?"

"If you say anything else I _am_ going to kick your teeth into your pretty little face. Just so you know."

"Well, alright," Meril replied, a little stunned by this reaction. She fell onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. "Alrighty then…"

She wished that she was sleeping outside so she could see the stars. Or that the ceiling was enchanted to appear like the sky, as it was in the Great Hall. Whenever she was too excited to sleep, just looking at the stars soothed her. They whispered their stories in her ear, lulling her to sleep. She searched for the constellations, racking her brain for the legends that went with them all. Astrology fascinated her; calmed her; humbled her. It always had, for as long as she could remember. Her father would take her hand late at night when she should have been asleep and lead her outside to the backyard. There he would lay flat on his back in the grass, his arm wrapped tightly around Meril's small frame. For the longest time, neither spoke. They just watched and listened as the stars whispered their stories into the night.

"They are always telling their stories," Meril's father would say, whispering into his young daughter's hair. "But not everyone cares enough to listen."

They were violent tales; tales of destruction and terror. They were tales of a journey. The stars were constantly on a journey.

"But they look so peaceful," Meril commented, awed by what her father had told her.

"They are very good at putting on a show. But they have been through a lot of pain."

Meril shut her eyes tight, doing her best to remember one of those nights. It was so fuzzy, though. She had been so young, and each night was so unspecific. But she suddenly felt as if she needed to remember. She needed something to hold onto.

What really fascinated her were the constellations. Each night her father took Meril outside, he told her a different story. He never planned ahead of time which he would say. It all depended upon which he could find in the sky that night. The stories were etched in his memory. He could never get them out if he tried. Not that he ever would try. Astrology fascinated him, too. Meril always felt that their love of Astrology was what connected them. When she looked at the stars, she remembered all those nights as a little kid laying out in the yard. Maybe he was up there, looking down on her. It was improbable, but the idea still brought her peace.

Slowly, as the memories played like a movie in Meril's head, she unknowingly drifted off to sleep.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"Come on, everyone! Hurry up! Get moving!" Madame Hooch bellowed over the chaos at Hogsmeade station. She was, for whatever reason, in charge of getting everyone back on the train for the holidays. Meril suspected it was because of her whistle. She eyed the shiny silver deafening piece warily. Her ears were still ringing from the last blow Madam Hooch had used the whistle for, when they all first arrived at the station.

Hagrid stood near by, gently hurrying everyone along. He helped the younger people get their trunks onto the train and smiled, telling everyone to enjoy their holiday. Meril slowly walked towards him, smiling softly.

"Bye, Hagrid," she said as she approached the giant man. He looked down at her over his scraggly beard and smiled warmly.

"Come 'ere, Meril," he gruffly demanded, spreading his arms wide. Meril stepped into the hug. She was used to not being able to breathe when embracing him. The bone crushing barely fazed her anymore.

"You enjoy the 'olidays, you 'ear?"

"I will, Hagrid. You make sure that you do, too, alright?"

Hagrid shrugged, making no further response to Meril's request. "What are yer plans?"

Before Meril could answer, though, there was that horrible, shrill whistle. She felt as if her ears were going to burst.

"Miss Lizlow!" Madam Hooch screeched. There is no time for socializing! The train is leaving VERY soon! If you don't want to spend your holidays here, I suggest that you get on _now_!"

Meril grumbled, rolling her eyes. "I'll see you around, Hagrid! Happy Christmas!" She smiled brightly and waved. Hagrid lifted his large hand, waving good bye.

Meril lifted her trunk and dragged it to the train. Fred and George met her at the door and helped lift her things in before lifting her up as well. She could barely hear Madam Hooch as she shouted, "All holiday bound aboard!"

"Thanks, boys," she said smiling widely.

"Oh, anything for you, Your Majesty," Fred said, giving a mock bow.

George curtsied, batting his eyelashes. "A pleasure, milady."

Meril rolled her eyes. "You two have learned well." She held out her hand. The twins stared blankly at her, unsure what she was doing. Quickly, Meril put it in her pocket, saying nothing. She had thought maybe the joke would continue and one would kiss her hand. It hadn't, and she felt like an idiot.

"Has anyone gotten a compartment yet?" she asked, changing the topic as she lifted up her trunk. The twins appeared on either side of her, each holding a suitcase.

"Lee went on ahead. He said he was going to get a compartment," Fred began.

"But he might have just went off to find Angelina," George finished.

"So Heather said she would get us one."

"But she is probably sitting with Cedric, so we don't know--"

"—if we want to sit with her."

Meril was well aware of the disdain the twins felt for Cedric, though she wasn't exactly sure what it was that made them feel that way. Of course, his win over Gryffindor in early November could only have added to their dislike.

"Well, it's pretty crowded. If Lee has not successfully found a compartment, and you don't want to sit with Cedric…well, you're going to have to find someone else. Jennifer, perhaps? I, personally, have no qualms about sitting with Cedric. He's very nice." She smiled slightly, more mocking than sincere.

Fred and George exchanged looks. "Jennifer?" they simultaneously asked, disbelieving. It had been a long time since that name had entered a conversation. Meril had accepted that the twins did not like her; she didn't want to talk about that horrid girl. But still, something inside of her was jealous of Jennifer Crisp. She hadn't realized that until then.

Meril shrugged. "It was just a suggestion," she said innocently. "I don't know who you would sit with. Ron is staying at Hogwarts for the holidays, isn't he?"

"Yeah…"

"So you couldn't stay with him, clearly. It was just a suggestion. Don't get your knickerbockers all into a twist." She smirked, her lips curling. She didn't want to give them the impression that she was still mad at them; at her.

None spoke again for a few minutes as they traipsed down the corridor, searching for a compartment with people they knew. Eventually, Lee popped out, smiling widely at them as he waved them over.

"That smile…" Meril began, eyes widening.

"That can only mean…" George continued

"He found Angelina," Fred finished. The three stepped into the compartment and this was confirmed. Angelina sat in between Alicia and Lee. Heather and Cedric sat by the window, whispering to each other and laughing. There was just enough room for Meril and the twins, what with all of the trunks and suitcases piled into the compartment along with everyone.

Meril sat down beside Heather. George plopped down beside her, and Fred beside him. Meril's whole Hogwarts family had managed to squeeze into one compartment. She had to wonder how that had been managed. Angelina and Heather didn't get along; Fred, George, and Lee disliked Cedric; Angelina and Alicia were constantly ogling Cedric.

It seemed the only person everyone got along with was her. She suddenly felt very pressured, as if she had to make sure that the train ride wasn't disastrous. Like it was _her_ duty; her responsibility. Like she was the mother and they were all her misbehaving children.

_Let's just see how this goes_, Meril thought. She didn't want to feel like she had to control her friends; her friends who were all older than she was. So she just sat stock still, watching her friends with a cautious eye.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Everything seemed to be going smoothly. They had been on the train for nearly two hours, and everything was mostly pleasant. Angelina and Heather exchanged a few glares, and Meril felt her body tense, mentally groaning as she felt her "motherly responsibility" about to kick in. But nothing happened.

Fred and George completely ignored Cedric, so nothing bad was happening there. Lee glared at Cedric once or twice, bothered by the fact that Angelina kept glancing at him, smiling and giggling with Alicia.

Which was what caused the glaring matches between Heather and Angelina, I realized. The blonde clung possessively onto her boyfriend, playing with his hair and kissing his cheek. Heather didn't need to do that to make anyone jealous of her.

"So what is everyone doing for the holidays?" Heather asked as she snuggled closely to Cedric. She flipped her ponytail a little. Meril rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to the Swiss Alps," Alicia responded after a long pause in which everyone just stared at Heather. "My family loves skiing." She shrugged, as if she really didn't care either way. Angelina gave her a sharp glare. She was clearly bothered by the fact Alicia was leaving.

"I am doing absolutely nothing," Angelina grumbled. "My family thinks Christmas is a time to spend at home in reflection as a family." She sighed as Alicia patted her sympathetically on the back.

"Same with mine," Lee said miserably.

"Well are you allowed to leave to visit friends?" Angelina inquired, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah…"

"I'm not. And they can't come to see me until after Christmas. It's horrible," she pouted. "I can't wait until I don't have to go back every Christmas vacation."

Lee attempted to console her, but she got over it rather quickly, leaving him no reason to sit rubbing her back. And he was not yet sure if she would beat him for doing it without a reason.

"We're staying at home, too," Fred and George said in that slightly creepy, simultaneous way of theirs. They cast a glance at Meril, smiling ever so slightly. Meril felt her insides turn, her heart thudding against her ribcage.

"What about you, Liz?" Heather asked, turning towards Meril. She had really gotten into addressing her best friends with other nicknames recently.

"You know what I'm doing, Lettie," Meril pointed out.

"So? Not everyone here does! Come on, share your plans!"

"It isn't anything big. I don't know why you're so pushy. It's not as if I'm traveling anywhere."

"Lizlow. Come on."

Meril rolled her eyes again. "I'm going home through Christmas. Then, December 26th through December 28th I am going to the Scarlett household. From there, the two of us are going to the Weasley household, where I will not be leaving until January 10th—the last day of our wonderful break. But you all knew that." She pointed at Heather, Fred, and George. The latter two grinned and nodded. Once again, her heart kicked against her ribcage.

Cedric didn't have great plans, either. He was spending the holidays at home, like many others. His parents didn't want to risk anything, what with Sirius Black still on the loose. Though Cedric had tried explaining to them that he was at Hogwarts, they didn't care.

"Well, my plans are very similar to Meril's," Heather said. "I am spending through Christmas with my family. Of course, I'll be seeing Cedric almost daily through then." She gave the quiet boy's hand a squeeze, smiling up at him. He smiled back, his gray eyes twinkling as he looked at Heather. "Then Meril is coming. Then we are going to see Fred and George. On December 31st, I have to go home to spend New Years with my family. But on January 5th I am returning to my lovely gingers and staying until the end of break." She grinned widely at the twins.

George grimaced slightly at the term 'ginger' but grinned and nodded, seemingly pleased with these plans. Fred, however, blew her a raspberry teasingly.

"Oh, yuck!" Meril exclaimed, wiping spit off of her face. George grimaced again, having received the majority of the spit. He wiped his face on his brother's robe sleeve.

"Thanks," he said, looking up at his older twin with a grin. "I always knew these robes would have a use."

"Oh, you're right!" Fred exclaimed. He wiped his face on George's robes with a satisfied smile. "Very efficient."

"Aren't they?"

Meril snorted as she watched the twins' exchange. They were the perfect pair; a dynamic duo. Even if they hadn't been twins, they would have been best friends. Their souls were made at the same time; the same design. There was no way they couldn't have been best friends.

Meril glanced over at Heather and subtly grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. Heather looked over at her, a startled expression on her face. Meril just smiled and shook her head. Heather nodded, squeezing back.

Heather was Meril's soul sister. They weren't related, but if they had been Meril swore they would have been twins. She imagined Fred and George's relationship would be a lot like theirs, had they not been born as twins.

Meril still held onto Heather's hand as she looked over at the Weasley twins. Fred and George. Gred and Forge. Her best friends. The boys who had saved her as a first year, lost and confused in the corridors. Not just her best friends…more. So much more. Everything more.

She stood suddenly, releasing Heather's hand. The blonde looked at her, eyebrows knit tightly together. Fred and George suddenly whipped their heads around to look at her, both confused.

"You okay?" Alicia asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be?

"You look…panicked and confused."

"No, I'm fine. I'm just…going to go to the bathroom." Meril gave Heather a pointed look and hurried out of the compartment.

Heather followed after her, closing the compartment door. She walked up to Meril tentatively, pulling her aside. Meril was almost hyperventilating. She ran her fingers through her hair repeatedly with one hand, fanning herself with the other.

Heather grabbed her shoulders and guided her to the ground. "Meril, what the hell is going on? Why are you freaking out suddenly? You were perfectly fine. What's wrong?" Her voice was soft. She pulled Meril closer, stroking her hair gently. Meril leaned into her, her breathing still erratic.

"Meril? Calm down. Close your eyes and try to take deep breaths." Meril listened. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her breaths, but, even with Heather stroking her hair, hugging her, she couldn't stop. Heather hummed and continued to stroke her friends hair. She didn't say anything else, and eventually Meril rested her head on Heather's shoulder. Slowly her breathing steadied. The two best friends sat in silence for a minute.

"Do you want to tell me what that was all about?" Heather asked quietly. Meril sighed.

"Yes. Just…not out here."

"Alright." Heather gently pried herself from Meril's grip and got to her feet. She held out her hand, which Meril accepted, and pulled her to her feet. "I think there is an empty compartment nearby we can talk in."

"Seriously? But the train is so packed."

Heather shrugged. "We'll make an empty one if we have to. This seems too serious for just bathroom talk. Anyone can hear bathroom talk. It doesn't take a mastermind to conceal themselves in there."

The two walked slowly down the corridor, looking carefully for an empty compartment. No surprise, there was none. Heather sighed loudly. She threw open the door to a compartment filled with a group of older guys and a few girls.

Their heads all whipped towards Heather and Meril. The girls eyed them suspiciously. When they saw Heather they scowled. Meril didn't blame them. The boys all stared in wonder at the blonde. Again, Meril didn't blame them.

"Can we help you?" one nasty girl asked in a nasally voice. She glared at Heather and flipped her hair.

"Yes, you could. Could you all just…find somewhere else to sit for a minute or so? We really need to talk about something in private."

"Why don't you just go to the bathroom?" another girl asked, looking at Heather as if she was an idiot.

"Since when is that private? Please?"

If they didn't agree to leave, Heather would undoubtedly pull the 'prefect' card. The chances of one of them being a prefect, too, were pretty slim. To her, it didn't matter that they all were probably older. She was very bold.

The boys all caved quickly. They all got up, grinning at Heather and Meril as they exited the compartment. The girls, however, were not so quick to leave. There were only two of them, and they were glaring harshly at the two fifth-years.

"What right," the girl with the nasal voice began, "do you have to kick us out of your compartment?"

"I didn't kick you out. I politely requested. And your friends were very nice to grant that request. Wouldn't it look bad on you if you just stayed in here? I doubt that the guys would think that was very nice…"

The girls exchanged looks. Then they looked over at their guy friends, who stood out in the corridor, waiting for them. Grumbling complaints under their breaths, the two girls followed their guy friends out into the corridor. Heather closed the compartment door and put a silencing spell around the compartment.

"Okay, Babs. What is going on?"

Meril sat down, taking a deep breath. "I don't know why I started freaking out in there, honestly. I was just thinking and I felt my chest like constrict and I was panicking for no reason."

"Well what were you thinking about?"

Meril sighed. "There's something I think I should have told you a long time ago…"

Heather paused, catching her breath. She arched an eyebrow curiously, staring at Meril. "There's something you haven't been telling me? Mer, what is it? Is it big?"

"Well, I guess kind of. Maybe. I don't know." Meril laughed nervously. She was confusing herself.

"Well, spill!"

Meril took a deep, steadying breath. "I am kind of…in love?" She laughed nervously again, running a hand through her hair.

Heather's hazel eyes widened. "You are in love?! Meril Emeline Lizlow! That is _huge_! Who is it?"

"Well, there's kind of…two people?" There was that nervous laugh again. She couldn't stop it. This was not something she discussed with _anyone_. At all. _Ever_. No one knew any of this but her.

Heather's surprised look fell. She suddenly appeared slightly bored, as if this was old news. "And would these two happen to have red hair, hazel eyes, and freckles? Maybe perhaps they are even twins?"

Meril's face flushed bright scarlet. She felt her ears burning and her eyes started to water a little. "How did you know? Is it obvious?"

"Babs, you have to remember that I am your _best_ friend. We are like, soul sisters. If I didn't notice these things I would be ashamed of myself. It would be like me not noticing that I liked someone. So it was obvious to _me_. I have no clue what the others have noticed. I just know what I have observed. And, Liz, you are most definitely in love."

Meril groaned, holding her head in her hands. She hated that Heather noticed; that she had been so obvious in her feelings that she had given it away. She tried so hard to lie about it to everyone; especially to herself. She didn't _want_ to be in love with two of her best friends. Why would she? Their relationships were amazing as they were; to risk sacrificing that. The very idea scared her. She didn't know what she would do if she ever lost either of those twins.

"Hey…Heath?"

"Hm?"

"You wouldn't have happened to have observed which one I love more, would you have?"

Heather laughed, as if this were some sort of bizarre question. "No, Babs. I have not noticed which you love more. Why? You don't know?"

"Lettie, I have no clue. Sometimes it is so hard to distinguish between my feelings for the two. I know perfectly well which is which; I know the differences in their personalities; I can easily distinguish everything between the two, but when it comes to my feelings…they are always together and my feelings just mix together. So I don't know. Maybe I love them the same amount."

"Maybe," Heather said, but she didn't seem too convinced. "But I don't really think it is possible to love two different people the same amount, not at the same time, and not in the same way."

Meril groaned, holding her head in her hands. She hated that Heather was making sense; it just made her more confused about how she felt. Heather sensed this and grabbed her hand, rubbing it soothingly.

"Look, Meril. There are two keys here, but only one lock. You just need to find out which key has the right fit."

Meril blinked, quickly converting what Heather said into real, non-metaphoric terms. Two keys, one lock. The two keys were clearly Fred and George, and she was the lock? Her heart was the lock? And she just needed to figure out which of the two was right for her.

"That's so hard though!" Meril whined. "How am I supposed to figure it out when they both seem to be so perfect for me?"

"Hey, I didn't say it would be easy," Heather said, holding up her hands defensively. "Did you hear me say it would be easy? No. This is where it really gets hard. You have to be willing to risk just about _everything_."

Meril blinked. A confused expression once again spread across her facial features. "How am I supposed to do that?"

Heather shrugged. "That, Meril, is up to you. Fred and George are different from the guys I have gone after; I haven't the slightest idea how to test them in a romantic sense. That, you'll have to figure out. And who better than you? You know them better than almost anyone, right?"

Meril nodded hesitantly. That was true. She and the twins were incredibly close. The only person who _might_ know them better than she did was Lee. This was, of course, excluding the twins themselves, who knew each other like the backs of their hands.

"Alright. Come on Babs…Let's give these nice people their compartment back." Heather grabbed the brunette by the hand, lifting her to her feet once more. With a swish of her wand she removed the silencing charm and then the two left.

"Thanks, again," Heather said as they passed the people.

"Yes. Thank you…" Meril shadowed, nodding at them as she was dragged quickly down the corridor, back to their compartment. Meril's stomach did a flip as she thought about returning. She felt that, now that she had told someone about her feelings for Fred and George, that they would somehow notice. That they would be able to look at her and just see everything; like she was an open book for them to peruse at their pleasure.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The compartment was very lively when Heather and Meril returned. Fred and George had somehow managed to get a hold of two cases of butterbeer and they were passing around bottles. Both were grinning like mad, singing Christmas carols at the tops of their lungs.

George grabbed onto Meril when she stepped back into the compartment and started swinging her around, dancing and laughing.

"Are you drunk?" Meril asked, laughing as she was spun.

"No; the butterbeer isn't strong enough for that!" George replied as he tripped over a rogue trunk. Meril snorted, just barely avoiding the trunk herself.

"Then why are we dancing?" she asked; she felt as if it was just her and George in the room.

"Because it's fun!"

He passed her off to Fred, who was acting just as jolly. He spun and twirled Meril, laughing and teasing her. George lifted Alicia to her feet and began spinning her around; Lee soon joined, pulling Angelina with him. Cedric and Heather sat for a moment, silently whispering. At last, Heather pulled Cedric to his feet and the whole compartment was dancing. They were constantly hitting each other and tripping in their crammed quarters, but they were dancing and they were having a jolly good time.

There was a constant exchange of partners. Meril danced with everyone in the room—_everyone_. Girls included. She burst into hysterics when she saw George and Cedric dancing. George decided that _he_ was the man, forcing Cedric, tall dark and handsome, to be the female. Fred and George bumbled and fumbled with each other when they were partnered, purposefully tripping themselves and others.

Meril couldn't remember a time where she had had more fun on a train. She couldn't remember _ever_ having fun dancing. But she was, now. Fred and George soon lost interest in the actual singing and just made noises, which everyone joined in on.

The time flew by very quickly. Soon, everyone was exhausted and collapsed back onto their seats. Heather looked at Meril expectantly, as if she expected her to have already made a decision. Meril just grinned, laughing.

"Come on, Mer. Let's play exploding snap. Me and Fred against you and Heather," George panted, pulling a deck of cards from his robe pocket.

"You did come compared, didn't you?" Meril observed. "Well, how about it, Scar? You want to play a round of exploding snap with me and the twins?"

Heather smirked. "I would love to."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Barely an hour and a half later, they pulled up to King's Cross Station. It was dark outside and snow lightly blanketed the ground. So many people crowded the platform, Meril had trouble navigating herself through them all. She and the other members of her compartment stayed close to each other. Meril held onto one of Heather's hand, the other laced with Cedric's.

"Oh, here's my family. I'll see you all in January!" Alicia said, stopping short. She hugged Angelina tightly and pecked her on the cheek. Meril detached herself from Heather and went to give her friend a quick embrace goodbye.

"Bye, Mer. Have fun! And Happy Christmas."

"You, too, Alicia. Have a good time in the Alps. Happy Christmas! I'll see you in January!"

Alicia smiled and nodded. Meril walked back to Heather, grabbing onto her hand once more.

"Happy Christmas, everyone!" Alicia called out, waving to everyone else.

Angelina found her family soon after. She hugged Meril and reluctantly received a hug from Lee before disappearing with her parents. Cedric was the next to go. Heather stayed with him to say a long goodbye, saying she'd meet back up with Meril soon.

Lee was gone soon after, leaving Meril alone with the twins. Once again, her heart started thudding against her ribcage. She felt her face burn red and she worried once more about them seeing through her, reading her thoughts and feelings.

Percy had already said goodbye to his girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, and was standing by his parents, along with Ginny. Bill stood with them, his hair long and tied back in a ponytail. Meril smiled brightly at the Weasley clan, waving.

"Meril, dear! How are you?" Mrs. Weasley asked, warmly enveloping Meril in an embrace. Meril smiled into the stout woman's sweater.

"I'm great, Mrs. Weasley; how are you?"

"Oh, I've been good. Look at you! You're so thin! Don't worry about that, dear; I'll plump you right up when you come by for the holidays." She paused. "Oh, dear, you _are_ coming by, right?"

"Of course! I can't wait!"

Mrs. Weasley smiled warmly before turning Meril over to the others, pulling her twins in for a big hug before starting in on the scolding which was always waiting for them.

"Bill! How are you?" Meril asked, turning towards the eldest of the Weasleys. He hadn't been around much since Meril met the Weasleys, but he always acted like an older brother to her.

Bill was good; he told her a quick story about Gringotts before pulling her in for a hug. Meril talked to him for a minute or so before moving onto Mr. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley was still scolding the twins about something or other.

"Well, Meril, we'll be seeing you soon," Fred and George said once Meril had finished talking to everyone. She looked at them, frowning slightly. It would be fourteen days until she saw them again; that was a long time.

"I'll see you in fourteen days," she replied. She hugged them simultaneously, somehow stretching her arms across them both. They encircled her, tightly squeezing her both at once, as they did so many other things.

"Happy Christmas," she said.

"Happy Christmas," they answered. George gave her shoulder an extra squeeze with his strong hand, a small smile dancing on his lips. Fred winked at her.

"Happy Christmas, everyone! I'll see you soon!" Meril waved at the Weasley clan. They all waved back, all, with the exception of Percy, smiling brightly at her.

She turned, looking around wildly for Heather or her mother. It took a few minutes, but she found them together. Heather stood in amongst her family. Her mother was talking to Meril's intently.

Meril smiled as she slowly approached the Scarlett family, a family she had learned to recognize as her own second family. They all stood together, beautiful in every way imaginable; noble. Joseph Scarlett, Heather's father, was listening to one of Bradley's wild tales, one which he had probably already heard, as Eliza, the youngest at age ten, latched onto him.

Caroline Scarlett and Melody Lizlow were absorbed completely in a conversation; so much so, neither noticed as Meril approached. The brunette slipped into the circle of Scarlett children. Sometimes, especially when she was younger and her mother was off at work, she liked to pretend she was one of them. She looked enough like the father to be one; brown hair, blue eyes; they both had them. It could work. It would be like she was the only one to take after the father, the rest having blonde hair like Caroline did.

One day she had even asked if they would adopt her. It wasn't that she didn't love her mother; she did very much. Melody was an excellent mother, when she was around. It was just that though, she was so often gone, Meril felt like she needed a permanent settlement.

Meril shook her head, remembering it all too well. It wasn't something she liked to think about. Caroline had told Melody, obviously; the two were best friends, just like Meril and Heather. The look of hurt on Melody's face was too painful to think about.

"How have you been, Meril?" Mr. Scarlett asked. He smiled widely. It had been a very long time since she had seen him. Meril smiled back, hugging the tall man then going on to hug Eliza. "Boot Camp and Germany all good?"

"Oh yeah; they were a blast. But Hogwarts is much better."

"That's right; it most certainly is." Joseph Scarlett still swelled with pride every time Hogwarts mentioned. He loved being a Hogwarts graduate. He had been a Ravenclaw; a prefect; Head Boy. But he never mentioned that when he went on a Hogwarts rant. He didn't speak of himself; he talked only about the teachers and the education. He was proud.

"Dad," Heather said warningly, rolling her eyes. Bradley grinned, winking at Meril.

"Here we go again," he said. He wrapped his arm around Meril, grinning. He didn't say 'hi'; there was no 'how are you.' Just a typical Bradley Scarlett hello; the arm around the shoulder and a sarcastic comment. It was how he was.

"Meril!"

Meril looked over at where the word had come from. Her mom finally realized that she was there. Her beautiful face was lit up with a radiant smile that made her eyes twinkle. Her nose was red from the cold. Meril smiled widely in return.

"Hey, Mam," she said. She excused herself from the Scarlett circle and hugged her mom tightly. Because even though she was never around, she was family. It wasn't a second family, like the Scarletts were; it wasn't a large, warm, bustling family like the Weasleys. But it was all Meril had when it came right down to it.

It was home.

* * *

**a/n** Okay, so not the best chapter I have ever written, but there it is. I hope you enjoyed anyway. I had some fun writing some of these parts. :) Please review; I love feedback. If anything confuses you, please let me know and I will explain. I have done it before and I am willing to do it again.

xox


	27. Ten Days

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Six—  
**Ten Days

* * *

Ten days has many different lengths. It can be short; it can be long; it can be anything in the middle. It just depends on the people and the situation. Anything can happen in ten days. Your life can turn around in even shorter increments. Ten days could mean the world to someone; it could be as long as you've been on the earth, or as long as you had left on it. And yet, in the grand scheme of things, ten days is nothing. Just a quick blink—a batting of the eyelashes—in the great expanses of time.

Ten days was the amount of time Meril would be home that holiday break. To Meril, it seemed long. Plenty of time to catch up; she had only been gone for three months. They had written letters. There was more than enough time to reminisce on old memories and make new ones. Ten days was a long time for a fifteen-year-old girl like Meril to stay at home for the holidays.

Melody couldn't disagree more.

"It's just so short!" she complained, throwing open the front door to their small little house in The Middle of Nowhere, England, as Meril liked to call it, though it was actually not true. They lived a few miles outside of Old Bosham in the Chichester district of West Sussex. That wasn't bad. In recent years Meril took up sailing in the summer, since it was a coastal town. "You have almost a whole _month_ off from school, and I only get you for ten days!"

Meril shrugged, flipping on the light switch. She took a deep breath, breathing it in. "Ma, it really is a pretty decent amount of time. It is more than one-third of my vacation time. It is plenty of time." Yet somehow, at the same time, it seemed an awfully long time to go without seeing...some people again. "Besides, you have had me to yourself for _years_."

Her mother was still not satisfied. Melody frowned ever so slightly, looking at her daughter intently.

"Hey, hey!" Meril said warningly, holding up a hand. "Don't try to make me feel guilty. When I ran this past you, you said it was _fine_. You said that you had a job after Christmas, anyway, and that it would be nice to see friends, anyway. So don't you go trying to guilt me. You are doing the same thing I'm doing." Meril crossed her arms over her chest, staring back at her mother, daring her to deny this.

"I only made plans because you did."

Meril cocked an eyebrow. "But you still made plans. We both made plans. It's perfectly fine. We have ten days. Then we have the summer; the rest of our lives. Don't go acting as if this is it and I am only spending ten days with you. I am fifteen."

Melody dropped it at that. "I don't want to get into an argument; just…come here." She held her arms out, and Meril gladly walked into them, tightly squeezing her mother.

"Come on; let me make you some hot chocolate," Mrs. Lizlow said, pulling away from her daughter with a soft smile. She let her fingers fall through Meril's soft brown hair.

Meril smiled, nodding slightly. She followed her mother into the kitchen. As she sat at the kitchen table, waiting while her mother boiled the water, she felt almost as if she had been transported through time, to when she was still a small child watching her mother with awe; she felt as if she was transported back to a time of innocence, when her mother and father were all that mattered in her little world.

"Have you started Christmas preparations yet?" Meril asked as her mother slid a mug of hot cocoa in front of her.

"Of course not!" Melody replied, laughing. "It's me! Besides, I thought it would be fun if we did it together; like we did in the old days."

Meril peered over her mug at her mother; taking in the hesitant smile, the sad eyes, the way her long black hair hung in limp waves over her shoulders, lifeless.

"Yeah, of course, Mam. I'd like that a lot." She smiled quickly, just a flash of teeth. Taking another sip of her hot cocoa, she glanced at her mom, worried. Melody Lizlow never let bags appear under her eyes; she never let her hair lay lifeless, draping over her shoulders like shadows. She never was so glum on the holidays; but something was wrong. Meril could feel it like a sudden weight dropped on her stomach. And it wasn't just that Meril would be leaving in ten days' time; it was something bigger, something much more serious, than just that.

"Ma?" Meril asked tentatively. She carefully placed her mug back on the table. "Ma, what's wrong?"

Melody Lizlow looked up at her daughter, bright blue eyes going wide. A wide smiled quickly spread across her face, just screaming the word 'FAKE' at Meril. The woman reached across the table and grabbed her daughter's hand. "Nothing! Nothing's wrong, sweetie. Everything's great. I'm glad you're home."

Meril watched her mother carefully, waiting for the false face to fall. It didn't. "Yeah. I'm glad, too."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Every day started the same. Meril and her mother would eat breakfast together and discuss their plans for the day. Melody generally already had scheduled their time, but she felt it necessary to run it past Meril and hear what her daughter had to say about the plans.

On the 15th of December, Meril's first day home, the two went off in search of the perfect Christmas tree. Each had their own vision of what the 'perfect tree' was, and what they found never fit that description. But it was always beautiful in any case. After they dropped the tree, which was only slightly lopsided and a little barren on one side, off at home, putting it in some water, they went into Bosham to have their afternoon tea.

The pair tried to find a different thing to do every day. One day they went shopping in Diagon Alley, looking for Christmas gifts for friends and family. The next day, they went shopping on the Strand, fulfilling their friends' needs for Muggle items and getting a few things for themselves as well. The first day it snowed—_really_ snowed—the two went outside and played for hours before going into Bosham to just walk around. The next day they blasted Christmas music and just spent the whole day decorating their tree, house, and lawn. The next day was spent in Bosham, where they shopped and ate their lunch in a nice little pub.

The next day was spent wrapping gifts and writing up Christmas cards. Pistachio enjoyed chasing around the ball of ribbon. She pranced about the house, batting it around in her small paws. She was still just a kitten.

The 22nd and the 23rd were spent in Bosham. One day was food shopping. There was only the two of them for their Christmas breakfast and lunch, but the two ate a surprising amount. And everything needed to be perfect. The Lizlows had their traditions. The other was spent just walking around and talking.

Finally, on Christmas Eve, Meril and her mother headed into Diagon Alley, carrying with them all of the gifts they had to give people who they wouldn't be seeing over vacation. Meril felt like the Santa Clause muggles were always going on about, carrying a large sack of presents slung over her shoulder. As she walked down Diagon Alley, towards the post office, she felt little kids watching her and grinning, awed.

Melody Lizlow went off to Gringotts to get some money to send all of the parcels, leaving Meril on her own for almost the first time since she had gotten home. Meril took a deep breath. She loved Diagon Alley at Christmas time. Everyone was even more jolly than usual. And there was something just magical about seeing everything covered in a blanket of white snow. She smiled happily to herself as she looked around. This was what she called Christmas.

Meril's mother caught up with her soon after she entered the post office. As she exchanged some money she took from the bank into muggle money, Meril unloaded the sack she was lugging around. A gift for Lee, Angelina, Alicia, Ron, Paulo, Sienna, Steve, Hagrid, Avery, Rousel, Aunt Bernadette and Uncle Laurent, Grandma Emily and Grandpa Robert, and a few people Meril didn't know. All of them had a card attached.

"Nothing for Professor Chatham?" Meril observed with raised eyebrows. She looked at the stack of parcels and then at her mother. "Is that…over?" She couldn't help sounding a _little_ hopeful. It was her mother and her teacher, after all.

However, Melody did not confirm this. She just blushed and looked away. "How much for fifteen first class owls?" she asked, digging through her pouch.

The middle-aged woman behind the counter looked over the parcels and then glanced over her owls. "Probably ten galleons and five knuts, I'd say. It's usually more, but it's Christmas and you have a good number. I'd say that calls for a discount, wouldn't you say?" She smiled at Ms. Lizlow, winking.

"Thank you very much!" Melody exclaimed, dropping the coins into the other woman's hand. Meril smiled at the woman. That was what she was talking about—Christmas spirit.

The woman smiled back at Melody. "Happy Christmas."

"Thank you. Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas," Meril said, smiling at the woman as she followed her mother back out onto the street.

They stopped at Flourish and Blotts next, where they dropped off some used books that could be sold at a lower price for those who could not afford all of the books they needed. From there, they just wondered about, window shopping.

"Ma, look at this…" Meril said. She pointed at a flier taped to the inside of a window. "It's for the kids at St. Mungo's. Someone's sponsoring some sort of gift thing for them. That's so nice." She smiled. "Could we?"

"Of course," Melody replied, smiling. She rubbed her daughter's back. "There's another one, too. It's for the less fortunate kids. Do you want to go find a gift for that, too?"

Meril nodded. "Yes." There was something about Christmas that just made her feel very generous. Not that she was selfish, really, but she never took the time to think about the sick or the poor otherwise. Grabbing her coin pouch from her cloak pocket, she ran off.

It was hard to shop for someone when you didn't know who it was you were getting a present for. Everyone had different tastes. So Meril picked out a book of children's tales and legends and a baby doll for one gift and a detailed book of Quidditch and a toy broomstick for the other. Hopefully they got to the right people.

A little over half an hour later, Meril found her mother staring sadly into an Astrology shop. Her hand was pressed against the glass, where there was a state-of-the-art telescope on display. Meril's smile began to fade. She knew what her mother was thinking about. That same thought had been rearing its head a lot recently. Meril wished there was some way to bat it away, but there was no way for her to do anything of the sort. Especially when she couldn't even get it out of her own head.

"Ma?" She gently touched her mother's elbow, holding up the gifts. "I'm back."

"Oh…alright…" Melody's voice trailed off. She turned towards Meril and blinked. It took a moment for her eyes to focus in on anything, and even then she remained silent for a moment. "Yes. Let's drop that one gift off. Then we can have a drink in the Leaky Cauldron and head to St. Mungo's. Sound good?"

"Yeah. It does."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"I forgot how much I hate hospitals," Meril groaned, throwing herself down on the sofa. She and her mother had just returned home from delivering their gift off at St. Mungo's; it was well past dark. "All those sick people…" She shuddered; she didn't even like to think about it.

"I didn't even think of that," Melody admitted, shaking her head. "I don't like them either. But we did a good thing. Just think about that."

"I just wasn't going to think about it at all."

"Well, that works too…"

Ms. Lizlow lit the fire with a simple flick of her wand. "_Incendio!_" The logs burst into a tame fire, crackling warmly in the fireplace.

"Do you want hot chocolate?"

"Yes, please. Thanks, Ma."

Melody smiled, flicking her hair out of her eyes. "No problem, Mer." She disappeared into the kitchen and Meril stood, stripping off her robe. She carelessly cast it off onto the sofa and moved to plop down on her favorite arm chair, beside which was her sewing basket. Taking great care, Meril pulled one of her school robes out. She had finally started to take them in, as she had promised the twins she would do back in September.

The measurements had been taken and marked on all of them. She had cut an inch off the bottom of her robes and an inch off of all of the sleeves. The hard stuff was all done. Meril licked the end of the gold thread and looped it through the needle with ease. She unraveled a great length of thread from the spool before snipping it off and knotting the end. She listened to her mother boiling the water as she carefully hemmed the end of her robe.

Each stitch was made with precision and care. The strokes were even; each stitch the same size, the same distance apart. This was her art. Sewing. This was how Meril created and expressed herself. Some painted; some drew; some wrote. Meril sewed.

You could never really tell what she was feeling from what she made. It wasn't exactly that kind of art. It was more the precision kind—like making potions. Everything needed to be exact or it would all be ruined. Meril seemed to be best at that sort of art form—the kind where you were driven by the need to get it right then the kind driven by feelings and the need to express yourself.

_It isn't that I'm not creative,_ Meril thought, making another stitch in her robe. She was creative. She designed things and sewed them. She was very interested in creating her own potions. But it just…wasn't the main concern.

"Alrighty! Here you go!" Melody exclaimed, grinning. She placed Meril's hot chocolate onto the coffee table.

"Thanks," Meril mumbled, not looking up.

"You alright? You aren't thinking about St. Mungo's, are you?"

Meril looked up slowly. "I wasn't. But thanks for putting that image back into my head!"

"Sorry! You just suddenly seem very…down."

_You shouldn't be talking, Ma. You've been glum all weekend. _"No, I'm fine. Just concentrating." She reached forward and grabbed the mug. She carefully brought it to her lips and took a small sip. "Thank you for the hot chocolate. It's delicious, as always."

"Thank you."

Melody sat down on the edge of the fireplace. She was off in her own world again. This had happened every single day so far. The girls would come home from whatever they had done that day. Melody would start the fire and then make some hot chocolate. They would sit together by the fire reading, sewing, watching a movie, or talking. Eventually Melody would fall silent and just stare into the flames wearing the same tired expression Meril had noticed her first day home. At some point or other the two would get hungry and have dinner before going off to their rooms.

Meril tried not to think much of it, but she hated it. She hated looking at her mother's lifeless face and not knowing what was wrong. She hated that her mother pretended everything was okay when it clearly wasn't. She hated worrying.

"You know, I am still seeing Spencer—Professor Chatham," Melody said softly into the silence. Meril looked up from her sewing. This was different. In these silences Meril had become so accustomed to, not once had her mother spoken without being prompted.

"Okay."

"I noticed how…hopeful you were when you suggested that maybe I wasn't. But I am. I really like him, Meril. He's a nice guy, and I think you would like him, too. If you gave him a chance."

"I do like him, Ma. It's just that…he's my _teacher_. Do you have any idea how weird that is for me?"

"I'm sorry. But I can't stop seeing him. I don't want to. I have finally started to _really_ move on. And I was lucky enough to find him. I can't give that up. People like Spencer…people like your father are so hard to find."

"I know," Meril whispered, so softly she was sure her mother didn't hear her.

"I am seeing him over the break. He decided not to stay at the castle the whole time."

"That's great."

"Yeah. It is."

Silence once again fell over them. Meril continued sipping at her hot chocolate and hemming her robes alternately. She watched her mother subtly. She and her mom were very close, but there was so much she didn't know about her past; about _her._

"Mam, what made you decide to be a Tour Guide, anyway?" Meril wondered aloud. She peered over her mug of hot chocolate at her mother, who sat, still appearing to be very tired, by the lit fireplace.

Melody Lizlow smiled nostalgically. Her bright blue eyes glazed over as she stared into the fireplace. Meril watched her mother expectantly but said nothing, knowing that rushing the woman wouldn't get her an answer any faster.

But just when Meril had given up on ever getting an answer out of her mom, the black-haired woman spoke.

"I was born in the United States, as I'm sure you know. My entire family lived there, starting in the 1600s when the first pilgrims arrived. They were probably the only magical family in that shipment, and, to protect themselves from those superstitious times, they moved far away from all of the others and, unlike the Muggles, thrived.

"More and more wizarding families came and joined them in their secluded area of Massachusetts, and the family grew. They would only marry other wizards, because they feared that their secret would get out and they would be burned.

"Well, then, hundreds of years later, I was born right there in Massachusetts where my ancestors had built their lives up. Yes, the same exact house. I was home schooled my entire life because my parents were rather paranoid; more so than the other wizarding families still living with us. Even when all of the wizards and witches my age went off to the tiny little private magical schools, I was stuck home, learning from my parents. Which is why I don't have any childhood friends to introduce you to as everyone else does. Sorry. You can blame my parents.

"I always had the desire to travel. I would look at maps and books on beautiful countries and this desire would fill me. I always asked my parents to take me to this place and that place, but the answer was always the same; no, not now. Then, when I was eleven, I got my first taste of travel. Since the place my parents got heir wands and supplies had closed down, it was decided we would travel to England. Now, this pleased me quite fine. I had always wanted to go to England, and it was better than I could have ever imagined. What I didn't get was why we took the Muggle way of transportation—the airplane." Here Ms. Lizlow shuddered. "Trust me, love, you never want to ride on one of those."

"Good thing I won't have to, then," Meril said cheerily. "Go on."

"Yes, yes! Of course…" The bright eyed mother trailed off, looking lost in her memories as she stared into the flames. Meril half-expected her not to speak again, but she did, her voice soft; barely more than a whisper.

"Diagon Alley enchanted me. I remember getting there so clearly. My parents and I wandered around the streets of London aimlessly, searching for the Leaky Cauldron—which, believe it or not, is famous even back in the States. Everything was so much more magical there than anything I had ever seen. Things flew and squeaked. Everything was so fantastic. I…." Ms. Lizlow couldn't even find the words to describe how she had felt. "It was probably the best day of my life."

Meril remembered feeling quite the same way when she first traveled to Diagon Alley. It had a certain quality that just made you feel excited; a quality that charmed you. Meril had been mesmerized by the people and the buildings. Everything about it had caught her in a spell, and she felt like she could live there forever.

"I remember wanting to just stay there, and I almost got my wish. We stayed a night in the Leaky Cauldron, but the next morning we caught an early flight back home. I remember begging to stay a bit longer to stay to see what there was to the city, but they refused. And so I merely returned to my books and read about London, and Rome, and Paris…I wanted more than anything to see these places, and I dreamed of the day my parents and I would go on an extended vacation to just travel around the world, visiting all of the beautiful places there are to see.

"However, I soon learned that this was never going to happen. If I was going to see the world, I was going to have to do it on my own. So, as soon as I was old enough, I went back to London. I looked around Diagon Alley and then the Muggle city. Then I looked around the every-day villages immediately surrounding London before continuing on. I hopped around until making it to Paris—in the middle of my trip."

She stopped and stared into space once more. Meril noticed the sad expression in her mother's eyes. Paris. That was where her parents met. She bit her lip and quickly looked away. Once again, she was prepared for her mother to stop talking. After all, the question had basically been answered. There was no need for her to continue.

However, after clearing her throat, Melody Lizlow continued once again.

"I was walking around, hopelessly lost, and looking for the Louvre. I had my map in front of me and I had my Baedeker, but I just couldn't seem to find anything. So I just sat down and, growing increasingly frustrated, tried to figure it out. Suddenly a shadow fell over me. I calmly looked up, and there was your father. My first impression of him was that he was goofy. I don't even remember why. There was just…something about him." She laughed nostalgically, shaking her head. "It wasn't like he was grinning down at me; that would have scared me. He was just standing there, looking at me curiously. Then, without saying a word, he just sat down beside me. 'Where are you trying to go?' he asked. His English was very good, but his accent was there and I immediately knew he was French. So I was very hopeful he could help me out."

Meril folded up her robes, placing them carefully on the ground with her sewing supplies. She lifted her mug of hot cocoa, watching her mother carefully. She hated to see her mom like this: sad, choking on her own tears, trying to swallow them so Meril wouldn't have to see.

"And he did. Then he left, not saying another word. I didn't think anything of it; he was just a nice native who helped me out. But later, when I left to Louvre, I saw him again. I was going to get something to eat at a cute café, and there he was. When he saw me, he smiled, recognition lighting up his eyes. I smiled back, waving a little. Neither of us moved towards the other.

"The next day, though, I saw him again. I was just walking around Paris, smiling as I took in the sights, snapping pictures left and right, when I spotted him in the crowd. And something took over me; I rushed forward, not knowing what I was doing, and reached out and touched his arm. He spun around, confused at first; but then a smile lit up his face."

Melody Lizlow paused, smiling to herself as she recalled that day so many years ago. Meril looked at her, silent. It was almost as if she wasn't there; Melody was so lost in her memories that she forgot what the original question was. But Meril didn't care.

"I smiled back hesitantly. I suddenly realized what I had done; I had lost my head. 'Hello,' I said, not wanting to be impolite.

" ''Ello,' he answered. 'Zou know, I keep running into zou.' His accent was heavier than I remembered.

" 'Yeah, I have seen you a lot around. Thanks again for helping me yesterday. Or, _merci_.' I laughed a little nervously. I wasn't the best at French, but he didn't seem to care. He found it…endearing.

" 'Zo, tell me, Mademoiselle, what iz your name?'

"I hesitated; my parents had always been very paranoid about strangers. Finally, I decided it didn't matter. I wasn't with them; I was in _Paris_! 'Melody Walters,' I answered, smiling as I extended my hand.

"He grabbed my hand and kissed it gently. 'Enchante, Mademoiselle. Je m'appelle Thaddeus Lizlow.' He winked, smiling. I wondered for a moment what he had said, not piecing it together at first. But when I did, I smiled. He was very charming. Even though he was goofy, I suddenly found myself…flustered by him. And I loved it…."

Melody trailed off once again. She stared into the fireplace. "Sorry, Meril." Melody looked over at her daughter, smiling softly. "I went off topic, didn't I?"

"Only a little," Meril answered, standing up. She took a step over to her mother and sat down beside her in front of the fireplace. Wrapping her arms around the woman's slight frame, the fifteen-year-old whispered, "I don't mind."

"What was the question again? Sorry. I'm a little…distracted."

Meril played gently with her mother's long hair. "Just how you decided to become a travel guide."

"Oh, that's easy. I don't know why I went off on such a tangent." Melody laughed, shaking her head. "I really am sorry."

"Ma, don't worry about it. I really didn't mind hearing about it. I never really knew…"

Melody sighed. "I don't talk about any of that stuff a lot. It's…" she shook her head. "So, anyway…I became a travel guide because I love to travel and I love history. So, after I had visited a bunch of places and knew all about them, I decided…why not teach others? And so I started to go to more and more places, learning all I could about them so I could show the world. I found magical artifacts and places; learned the magical history of things, as well as the muggle so I could easily tell everyone anything they could want to know. Once I found a good travel firm, I applied for a job. They were very impressed, and since it isn't exactly a…popular field of work, I was hired. And well, you know the rest."

"Yes I do," Meril replied, smiling brightly. From what she had heard, her mother was a great tour guide. Everyone seemed to love her. She was witty and informative on her trips. But Meril wouldn't know. When she was in Germany, because her mother was doing a year-long job there, she was in school. And when she wasn't, her mother was researching and scouting out new places. So Meril never got to experience her mother's guided tours.

"Why are you so tired, Ma?" Meril asked after a moment's silence. "Ever since I got home. You just seem…worn out."

"It's nothing. I've just had a lot on my plate. And I've been thinking a lot."

"What about?"

"The future; the present; the past. Everything."

"Why suddenly now?"

Melody looked at Meril, shaking her head. "Meril, this thinking isn't sudden. It's been coming on for a long time now, piling up ever since…well, years ago. But it was little things. And now the world is catching up with me. My past is coming back to haunt me; the future is looming in front of my face, asking questions. And the present doesn't like all of it."

Meril blinked. She stared hard at her mother, taking in ever line and contour of her face. She took in the bags under her eyes, the laugh lines at her mouth and eyes, the worry wrinkles on her forehead. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Meril. Sweetie, I am fine. I am tired, that's all. Now it's Christmas Eve, and it is getting late. Why don't you go to bed?"

"_I'm _not tired. Maybe _you_ should go to bed."

Melody cocked her eyebrow, giving her daughter a demanding look. "Meril. Come on. Please, just…" Ms. Lizlow once again trailed off, a helpless look on her face.

Meril looked at her mother for a moment; her face hardened. "Ma. Talk to me. Unburden your mind a little. It isn't fair that you have to think about…_this _alone. Whatever this is."

Melody said nothing. She sat stone silent, straight as a board. Meril sighed, shaking her head, and got up. She walked slowly away, holding her mug loosely in her hand. Her feet felt heavy. She looked over her shoulder; her mother still sat there; the woman hadn't moved a muscle. Meril looked fleetingly over her face; to her, it seemed like her mother was about to cry. She hated this, but if she wasn't going to talk, and she wanted Meril to go to bed…

"Did I ever tell you I had a brother?" Melody squeaked. Meril stopped dead. She felt every muscle in her body suddenly tense.

"What did you say?"

"I had a brother. An older brother. His name was David. David Roy Walters."

Meril slowly walked back to her mother, eyes wide, mouth dangling open. "You have a brother?"

"Had," Melody instinctively replied, not missing a beat. Her eyes were still glazed and she was staring off to space, as if she wasn't really there. As if Meril weren't really there. "Had. He died."

"Why didn't you ever tell me about him?" Meril snapped. Out of habit, she threw her hands down. Her hot chocolate spilled to the ground, the mug falling and shattering. Meril winced, but her mother made no reaction. She didn't even look at the mess.

"I never talk about it; about him…"

"Why not?" Meril demanded. If she died she knew she wouldn't want her family to just forget about her like that.

Melody turned towards her daughter without truly looking at her. "It isn't something I really like to think about," she said evenly.

"You don't like it, so you just _forget_ about him?! You go on as if he never existed?!"

"Who ever said I forgot about him?" Melody Lizlow's voice sounded tight. Meril noticed that she might be over the line, yelling at her mother. But she had a right to know that she had an uncle, even if he was dead. "I think about him _every day_. I miss him every day. It hurts, Meril. It hurts. That is why I don't talk about it. That is why I don't talk about your father. Because it seems more real if I say it out loud. If I keep it in my head, maybe it will go away. Eventually."

"When did he die?" Meril asked quietly, not knowing what else to say.

"He died in 1962. He was only nine years old. He would be the same age as your dad, you know."

"What happened?"

"He drowned. He never was a good swimmer, and we lived by a lake in Massachusetts. He was a squib. He wanted to try to use magic on the water. So he went off alone, and he didn't come back. I found him early the next day." Melody stifled a sob, the imaged flooding back into her mind. "I was walking with our dog the next morning down by the lake, as I usually did. And I saw him. He was washed on the shore, all blue. I vividly remember how I walked up to him. I didn't know he was dead. I threw my arms around him, telling him I missed him and Mommy and Daddy were so worried. I shook him, but he wouldn't wake up. Meanwhile, our dog, Rugby, wouldn't stop whining. He was nudging David, trying to help me. But…nothing worked. I was only six, and my brother was dead."

"Mam…"

"He loved Christmas." Melody looked sadly at the Christmas tree set up in the corner, brightly lit and decorated. "I know he would have loved you, too. You know, Mer, sometimes I look at you and I see him. You have the same smile."

Meril traced her lips with her fingers. "What was he like?"

"He was curious, stubborn, proud, confident, funny, smart. He was so much like you, Meril. He wouldn't believe he was a squib. He was confident that he was just a late bloomer. But he wasn't."

"What did he look like?"

"His hair was a pretty normal length for back then. Shaggy around the ears and brown. He had brown eyes, too, and his skin was pretty tan. He took after my father, for the most part. Except for his smile. His smile—_your_ smile—was definitely my mother's. Here, I'll show you a picture of him." She reached into her pants pocket, pulling out a rather large locket. Inside, there were two pictures. One was of Meril's father, Thaddeus. The other was someone she had never seen before—a young boy with slightly shaggy, light brown hair, chocolate eyes, and a big smile. David Roy Walters.

Meril unconsciously took the locket from her mother and stared sadly at the picture of the young boy. She wondered what he would be like; if she would know him; if she would like him.

Meril looked at her mother and suddenly realized why she was in Gryffindor. Not that she had ever really questioned it, but, looking at her mother, Meril knew it was all because of her. Because Meril didn't know anyone else who could deal with the death and separation of loved ones the way Melody Hope Lizlow did.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril lay awake that night staring at the clock by her bedside. She watched as the hands ticked away, getting closer to midnight every second. But she was barely even thinking about Christmas. What kept her sleepless was her mother. She could hear her wandering the house, making sure everything was ready for Christmas the next day. Meril could swear she heard sniffling and couldn't help thinking about that locket.

A brother. How could Meril not have known? How could her mother not have told her? She wondered briefly if her father had known about David. But then her mind wandered back to her mother's tired face—the lifeless eyes, the bags. There had to be something else on her mother's mind—something besides her dead brother and dead husband. Something she _wasn't_ constantly thinking about.

There had to be something. Meril had never seen her mother looking so sad before, excluding that fateful day nine years ago—the day Thaddeus Lizlow died. So there had to be something else.

_Why won't she tell me?_ Meril wondered, closing her eyes. She listened to the silence surrounding her, waiting to hear her mother's footsteps as she carefully tread up the old stairs. _What is going on?_

The clock continued to tick. In it, Meril could hear her own singing voice, counting down the days until the holidays. The seconds passed by so fast, the minutes treading along right behind them. Soon it was midnight—Christmas was there, at long last. Meril couldn't help feeling slightly elated, even with all that was on her mind.

Meril had to wonder where all the time had went. Ten days had whizzed right on by her, barely stopping to say hello.


	28. Christmas

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Seven—  
**Christmas

* * *

The smell of breakfast was heavy in the air when Meril woke up Christmas morning. She could hear her mother moving around in the kitchen downstairs, making up the usual for their breakfast feast—pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, and, though she couldn't smell it, Meril knew there would be scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam.

Her stomach growling wildly, Meril carefully swung her legs over the edge of her bed. It was eight o'clock and high time she and her mother got started on their Christmas celebrations! Meril carefully lifted Pistachio from her pillow and, holding the white furball close to her chest, made her way downstairs.

Now that it was Christmas, the decorations seemed even more cheerful, even brighter than they had previously. A grin spread across Meril's face as she looked around at everything. The tree was sparkling with lights and tinsel and was almost completely covered in ornaments. Holly and pine were strung about the house. Everything Meril looked at screamed 'Christmas!'; it made her smile.

She loved the house at Christmastime.

A warm fire was crackling in the fireplace. Three stockings—one for her mother, one for her, and one for Pistachio--hung from nails on the mantle, filled with all sorts of goodies.

Scratch that; she just loved Christmas.

Grinning, Meril ran into the kitchen.

"Happy Christmas!" She kissed her mother on both cheeks. Then, placing Pistachio by her food bowl, which already had her special Christmas breakfast in it, threw her arms around her mom.

"Happy Christmas, Meril!" Melody responded, her excitement for the holiday evident in her voice. She gently kissed her daughter's forehead. "Come on, then. Let's eat breakfast so we can get started with the good stuff, eh?"

"Ma, this _is_ the good stuff!" Meril exclaimed, eyeing the table hungrily. It was all there, waiting for her, tempting her. "_Everything_ about Christmas is the good stuff! It's _Christmas_!"

Melody smiled at her daughter. "Of course; I know that. But my favorite part has always been the presents. I can't help it." She shrugged as she slid into her seat at the table.

"How can you even _pick_ a favorite?! Ma, it is all the best. I can't even imagine having a favorite part of Christmas. I like everything in a different way! It's just…_Christmas!_"

"Meril?"

"Yes, Mam?"

"Shut up and eat your breakfast." Melody smiled brightly at her daughter, shoving the food towards her.

"Fine, fine," Meril grumbled. She dished herself some sausage and eggs, the threw a pancake or two onto her plate as well. Lastly she grabbed a scone from the plate. Her mom pushed the clotted cream and the strawberry jam towards her, having already prepared hers. Meril delicately cut the scone and spread the clotted cream on both sides thick, just as she liked it. Then she lightly spread the jam on top of it before taking a bite.

"Mmmmm…I forgot how good this was. I can never have this at Hogwarts." Meril took another bite, savoring it. There really was nothing quite like it in the world. "Mm! Is there any tea?"

"Of course!" Melody jumped out of her chair to get the kettle, which had been boiling for at least a minute with neither of them noticing. She grabbed two ivory mugs from the cupboard and placed a tea bag in each, pouring the boiling water over it. With great care, she carried the mugs back to the table.

"There you go, Meril. Happy Christmas from Earl Grey!"

"Oh, well thank you, Earl!" Meril exclaimed, tracing the gilded gold rim with her finger as she watched the tea darken. She slowly added a tablespoon of sugar, watching as the grains fell. "Very kind of you, really!"

"Earl Grey has always been a very considerate man," Melody agreed. She carefully poured some cream into her mug and stirred it daintily before taking a sip.

"Yes, he has. He has been very good to us over the years, hasn't he?" Meril took another bite of her scone and washed it down with a sip of her tea.

"Very good, indeed."

After that, the conversation dropped. Both realized the joke had reached its conclusion; any more about Earl Grey would be overkill. Mother and daughter smiled slightly at each other, though, having appreciated the joke while it lasted.

After just a moment of silence, conversation returned. Meril and her mother talked and laughed their way through their Christmas breakfast. Not once did Meril see her mother's face fall into that too familiar weary expression. Not once did a frown cross Melody's face. Everything was happy and jolly. Everything was as it was supposed to be. Everything was Christmas.

Snow began to fall gently from the sky as the two finished up their breakfast. Meril smiled, staring out the kitchen window as her mother grabbed all of the dishes and put them in the sink. With a swish of the wand, they magically began to clean themselves.

"Perfect!" Melody exclaimed, joining her daughter in watching the snow fall. "I'll go put on some music."

Meril's face lit up like a small child's. "Then presents?"

Melody smiled. "Then presents. Duh. It is my favorite part, after all. I couldn't hold out much longer."

Meril let out a deep breath of relief. "Neither could I. The suspense it killing me! I mean, look at all of them! Those boxes are just _begging_ to be torn open!"

"I agree!"

Pistachio did, too. The kitten rubbed up against Meril's legs, meowing. Meril laughed and lifted the kitten up, holding the furball against her chest.

Melody turned on the radio; Christmas music blared throughout the house. The dial was quickly turned so that it was just background noise. Meril skipped into the living room, taking her usual spot on the loveseat and placing Pistachio beside her.

"Okay, so how are we doing this?"

"You give me my presents, I give you yours," Meril answered, smiling.

"Sticking to a tradition, I see. Well, alright." Melody bent down, picking up a wrapped box. She gently placed it beside her daughter. Meril reached down onto the ground, searching with her eyes for the present she had gotten her mother. Finding it, she picked it up and handed it in turn to her mother.

"Ready?"

Meril nodded. "On three, we open."

"One."

"Two."

"Three…"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The Living Room was filled with gifts, all neatly organized in piles and placed back under the tree. Meril and her mother had received gifts from people they hadn't seen or heard from in ages; people they hadn't even thought of sending a gift or card to.

"Oh, well. I'll send them all Christmas cards soon," Melody said, waving it aside quickly with her hand. "It's nothing that can't wait."

"Why, you're going to busy with Professor Chatham?"

Melody groaned. "Please, don't call him 'Professor' here. Call him Spencer. Or 'Mr. Chatham' at the very least."

"Yeah, he said the same thing…" Meril shrugged. "So are you?"

"Yes, actually. Some days. Tomorrow we're going out."

"Oh, really? Where?"

"Well, his extended family always has a second Christmas on the 26th. So, he is taking me. I'll finally get to meet his son and his mother. And his cousin Delphine he has talked so much about." She smiled brightly.

Meril felt her face pale. They were meeting family? Already? She swallowed, shaking her head and putting on a big smile. "Well, that's cool. What about his dad? Will his dad be there?"

"Oh, no." Melody frowned. "Norrin—Mr. Chatham, I mean--he just died in June. This is everyone's first Christmas without him. I hope it won't be too sad…" Melody frowned. "That would be horrible. I remember my first Christmas without Th—David."

"Yeah, I remember our first Christmas without Dad, too." Meril gave her mother a pointed glare. "You don't have to avoid talking about it, Mam. I don't like to talk about it with people; they don't get it. But it's different with you. He wasn't your dad, so it isn't exactly the same, but I can still talk about it with you."

Melody smiled. "Alright. It's just...it's still hard. I know it's been almost nine years, but…that doesn't mean it is any easier to deal with. We just have to move on, right?"

"Yes, we do." Meril was silent for a moment. She looked over at the fireplace where the three stockings hung, their contents, having been revealed, placed carefully back inside. There had been three stockings there before, too. It was nice to see three back up again, but at the same time it hurt to remember the third that used to be there. Meril unconsciously scratched Pistachio behind the ears, her eyes glazed. "Speaking of moving on," Meril started, snapping back into the present, "back to Mr. Chatham. I didn't know he had a son."

"Yes, he does. His name is Alexander. He is only three years older than you; maybe you have met him at Hogwarts before?" Melody cocked her head to the side, watching her daughter. However, Meril shook her head.

"Maybe, but I don't remember any 'Chatham's. Do you know what house he was in?"

"Um…yeah, I think he was in Gryffindor, too. Spencer says he hung out with Charlie Weasley a lot, even though he was three years younger. Ringing any bells?"

Meril shrugged. "If he was friends with Charlie, I probably saw him. But, still, not ringing any bells. That's alright though. So what about his other family? Do you know anything about them?"

Melody nodded slightly. "His mother name is Mabel. She is apparently a very nice lady, but very hard of hearing. She is still very bitter towards Annabelle, so she will probably like me just for being with her son, according to Spencer." She shrugged.

Meril cocked an eyebrow. "Who is Annabelle?"

"Annabelle Winslow is Spencer's ex-wife. She left him five years ago, when Alexander was thirteen. They were Head Boy and Girl at Hogwarts and got married almost as soon as they left. They had been together since their fifth year, though. That's a long time. I can't believe she would throw away all of that history…"

Meril secretly didn't blame her. Not everyone could deal with being with the same person for so long. From age fifteen for the rest of your life? That was a long time.

_Variety is the spice of life,_ Meril thought.

"It's good for you that she did though, isn't it?"

Melody smiled softly, appreciating the fact that her daughter was not acting all angry about the relationship she had with Spencer. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"So what about his cousin Delphine? Why does he talk about her so much?"

"They grew up together; they're very close. Meril, you don't have to do this. You don't need to keep asking about him. It's okay. I appreciate the effort a lot. But shouldn't you be packing? You are leaving first thing in the morning?"

"Yeah, I guess…"

Meril heaved herself off of the couch, running a hand through her long brown hair. She walked slowly towards the stairs, dreading the idea of packing. Not that she had much to do. Almost everything was still in the trunk. She just had some unnecessary items to attend to.

Meril pushed open her bedroom door, once again stepping into the familiarity of it. It was the one part of the house that was always as she had left it from summer to summer. It was where she had grown up.

The same notes she had taped onto the yellow wall years ago were still there. The same paintings still hung on their crooked frames—all of them completely free of people, because the idea of some strange painting watching her sleep had always skeeved Meril.

Her desk still sat under the window, covered in notebooks and quills. A thick envelope was on her chair, filled with photographs of various events and places.

Her bed was still pressed against the wall, just by the desk, covered by various stuffed animals and pillows.

Her bookshelves were still standing just as she had left them, lined against the wall adjacent from her bed, though they were a few books emptier, since she had brought many to school with her.

Meril took it all in. She knew that however she left it the next day, when she went off to Heather's house, it would remain that way until June when she returned home again. Her mother was always very good about that; Melody had once said that by leaving everything as it was, it was easier to think that nothing had changed. That Meril wasn't gone. Meril knew that that was the very reason her father's study hadn't been changed once in the past eight years and nine months, except for the occasional dusting.

With a sigh, Meril opened up her trunk and extracted the encyclopedias that Caitlin Haelstrome had given her for her birthday. Laughing slightly, she dropped them on the ground. She had no idea what to do with them. She took out a few other things that she knew she wouldn't be needing for the rest of the year and switched out some books for others.

As she was doing this, the doorbell rang. Meril's body tensed and she dropped a novel on her foot. She remembered the last time the doorbell had been rung—the fateful day in March 1985 when her father was murdered before her eyes. No one who _needed_ to ring the bell ever came to their house.

Meril shook off the dread that had paralyzed her and forced herself to move towards the window. Outside stood a woman she recognized—one with light brown hair. She wore a long fur coat and leather stiletto boots. The woman seemed to sense Meril staring at her out the window and glanced up, squinting against the sun. She smiled brightly, showing off her straight white teeth, and waved. Meril smiled slightly, waving back. As she did, the front door opened. Meril could hear her mother welcoming the woman inside.

Dropping what she was doing, Meril hurried down the stairs, nearly tripping over Pistachio, who was playing with a piece of ribbon on the staircase, as she did so.

"Bonjour, Aunt Bernadette! Comment-vas tu?" Meril greeted, using her limited French, as she came to a halt beside her mother. Aunt Bernadette smiled again at her. This time it didn't reach her chocolate colored eyes.

"Ah, Bonjour, Meril! Ça va bien, merci. Et tu?"

"Uh…C'est tres bien! Merci!"

Once again, a wide smile spread across Meril's aunt's lips. "Zat was very good, Meril. Zou 'ave improved very much since I 'ave seen 'ou last." Her accent was heavy and she struggled a bit to find the right words, but her English was very good, too.

"Merci. Joyeux Noël."

"Ah, oui. 'Appy Christmas!" There was something in her voice that said it wasn't, but Meril didn't say anything about it, just gave her father's sister a big hug and a kiss on each cheek.

Bernadette turned towards Melody, smiling again. She gently touched the black-haired woman's arm and leaned forward. The two kissed each other's cheeks, as was the traditional French greeted, and pulled apart, smiling ever so slightly at each other.

"We sent you a present in the mail. If we had known you were coming we would have just waited to give it to you here…" Melody said hesitantly.

"Well, if I knew I was coming, I zink I would 'ave said somezing to 'ou, don't 'ou zink?" Bernadette responded, raising her eyebrows at Melody.

"Yes, of course…"

The three stood together in an awkward silence for a moment. Then, as usual, Aunt Bernadette was the first to speak.

"Do 'ou mind if I take off my coat?" She raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"No, not at all!" Melody exclaimed. Bernadette carefully stripped off her long fur coat, revealing a tight red dress. Meril took the coat from her aunt and hung it in the hall closet.

"So, Melody," Bernadette began, smiling unsurely at her sister-in-law. "Zere is somezing I would like to speak wiz 'ou about. In private." She cast Meril a quick sidelong glance, raising her finely arched eyebrows once more at Melody.

"Of course. Why don't you go on into the kitchen. I'll get you some tea. Meril? Don't you have some more packing to do?"

"Yeah. But Ma, wait." The fifteen-year-old pulled her mother close to her then whispered, "Why is she here?"

Melody simply shrugged. "Go on; pack. Your aunt needs to talk to me about something."

Meril grumbled under her breath as she trudged back up the stairs. She really wanted to know why her aunt had come—on Christmas no less. Aunt Bernadette hadn't been to her house since just after the funeral for Meril's father. She had to be there for a reason, and Meril was sure it had to do with why she seemed so upset.

Meril quickly threw everything she needed back into her trunk, straining her ears to hear what was going on the kitchen downstairs. From the little she managed to make out, it all seemed to be a bunch of small talk as her mother made some more tea.

Meril slammed her trunk close, quickly looking around her room to make sure she hadn't left anything. She hadn't. She just needed to remember to pick up her sewing stuff on her way out the next day. Satisfied, Meril crept out into the hallway. The two women's voices were hushed. Meril snuck into the bathroom, which was located just above the kitchen, and laid down on the cold tile, pressing her ear to the floor.

"So, Bernadette, how is everyone? Laurent, Avery, Rousel…?"

"Zey are all well. Yes, zey are enjoying zeir Christmas back at 'ome. I, 'owever, 'ad some 'orrible business to take care of." She sighed. "And zat is what I am 'ere to talk about wiz 'ou, Melody."

"What is it?"

There was a stifled sob. Meril couldn't tell what her aunt said in response, but Meril assumed it was not good judging by the crying she could hear.

"Oh my goodness," her mother gasped. "Are you sure?"

"Yes I am sure!" Bernadette exclaimed, offended at the very suggestion. "I was zere 'en it happened. My fazer is dead!"

Meril didn't have time to react to this statement, since right after it was made her mother spoke again.

"I can't believe Adalmund actually died."

At that Meril sprung to her feet, filled with confusion. Adalmund? Had her mother just said Adalmund? Meril began to play with her swan ring, twisting it around on her finger. There was no way…

She rushed down the stairs, bursting into the kitchen. "Did you just say Adalmund?" she asked, doing her best to keep her voice even. She didn't want to make it obvious that she was quickly becoming angry.

"Well, yes," Aunt Bernadette answered, surprised by the look on her niece's face. "We said Adalmund. 'E was my fazer. 'our grandfazer. Why are 'ou so surprised?"

"I am surprised," Meril said, taking a deep breath, hoping it would calm her down, "because I had no idea that I even had a grandfather named Adalmund. I am _surprised_ because no one ever bothered to tell me that my dad's father was still alive. That is why I'm surprised. I'm _angry_ because, not only did no one tell me _that_, but they said that he was _already_ dead and had died long before I was born." Meril's bright blue eyes narrowed as she stared at her mother, seething. "Don't you think that is something I would have liked to have known about?!"

"Meril…"

"No! First you don't tell me you had a brother, and now this?! Is there anything _else_ about my family—about **_ME_** you would like to tell me, or is that all?!"

Her mother and aunt were silent for a moment. Meril looked back at forth between them. When neither answered, she stormed off up to her bedroom, locking the door behind her. She threw herself onto her bed, amongst all of the stuffed animals and pillows. She found the little lion Fred had given her for her birthday. With it was Pistachio's lion cub, slightly wet from being nibbled on. Meril took a deep breath, squeezing the two animals tightly. She tried to calm down, taking deep breaths. But just when she almost did, every single time, she would remember the ring on her finger—not the beautiful, jewel encrusted one George had given her, but the swan one—and remember who had given it to her and just who that person was.

After a few minutes, there was a soft knock on her door.

"Unless you are going to tell me that that was all a joke and my grandpa really has been dead for more than fifteen years, go away. I'm not in any mood to talk to either of you right now."

"Meril, open the door," Melody demanded.

"Does what you want to say fit my parameters?"

"No, it doesn't. But I'm your mother, so open the damn door Meril and let me and your aunt talk to you."

"If I let you talk, you are just going to continue to ruin this Christmas for me. I don't like being lied to, and I don't like being mad at you or Aunt Bernadette, or at my dead father. So, if you wouldn't mind…"

"Actually, Meril, I _would_ mind. You need to hear what we have to tell you, once and for all. So if you aren't going to open the door, we are just going to stand here and talk to you anyway—so loudly you can't possibly ignore us. Now what are you going to do?"

Meril didn't answer, just continued to lie there, staring up at her ceiling. She could hear her mother take a deep breath, ready to start her loud torrent of words. Grudgingly, Meril swung her legs over her bed and opened her door.

"Fine," she snapped. "Come in."

She stormed back to her bed, throwing herself back down onto it. Her mother followed her in, carefully moving the envelope of photos and sitting down at the desk. Aunt Bernadette slowly followed, looking uncomfortable, and sat down at the only available spot—the blue beanbag chair in the corner.

"Do you want us to start at the beginning?" Melody asked.

"I don't care," Meril grumbled, still refusing to look at her mother.

Melody sighed. "Okay. So, yes, Adalmund is your grandfather. He was a wealthy English wizard and he married Celeste Kott, a wealthy French witch. They had your father, Thaddeus, in 1953 and your Aunt Bernadette here in 1956. The two were raised in France and attended Beauxbatons."

"I don't need a history here. I need to know why you never told me anything about my grandfather. You mentioned Grandma Celeste, who, unless you lied about _her_, too, actually _did_ die before I was born. But never Adalmund. You never even said his name."

"Fine. Your father and I, we never told you about him because he had no interest in you. Or in me. Or in your father for having married _me._"

Meril sat up slowly and looked at her mother, eyebrow raised. "What?"

"Adalmund didn't like me because I was from America. He didn't like me because I met his son as a tourist and we fell in love. He didn't like me because I ruined the marriage he had been arranging between Thaddeus and this French girl. So, when we got engaged, he gave your father an ultimatum—me or him. When your father chose me, Adalmund all but disowned your father. He didn't speak to us. He didn't talk about us. But he left your father as his heir."

"Okay, so he was a prick. You still could have told me about him."

"Your father wanted to. He wanted to still be in contact with his father. He kept trying and trying to get a hold of him—he sent letters, cards, gifts. He sent a photo of you and was constantly sending news about you, thinking that maybe a granddaughter would get him to pay attention—that he couldn't possibly resist your baby charms. But he did. When your father died, I continued to correspondence, for your father's sake. I told him about everything going on with you and life. I asked how he was. But he never once gave an interest in your or me or our lives. So your father and I decided that, until he answered, we weren't going to tell you about him. We didn't want you to be hurt because Adalmund had no interest in you."

"So instead I could be hurt because my whole family lied to me." Meril looked over at her aunt who was still trying to get comfortable in the beanbag chair. "Aunt Bernadette, you were still in contact with him, right?"

"Well, yes," she said uncomfortably. "I did try to get 'im to speak to 'ou, but 'e would not listen to me." She shrugged, frowning. "But, Meril, I 'ave a question for 'ou before your mozer continue zis story."

"Yes?"

"'Ow did you recognize ze name Adalmund if 'ou 'ad never been told about your grandfazer?"

Meril played with her ring again, twisting it uncomfortably around her finger. "Well, when I was in the Hospital Wing for my arm, I received a letter from a guy named Adalmund, along with a lot of little trinkets and stuff. A lot of it had swans on them. Like this ring." Meril held up the finger where the silver swan ring was.

"He sent you a letter?" Melody knit her eyebrows together, confused. "You never mentioned that to me. Do you still have it?"

"Yeah. He sent one at my birthday, too." Meril got up off of her bed and opened her trunk back up. She dug around for the envelope of letters she had received so far that year. From it, she pulled out two pieces of parchment and handed them to her mother.

"Read them out loud," Meril ordered as she continued to dig through her trunk.

Melody took a deep breath. "Dearest Meril," she began. "I wanted to give this to you for your seventeenth birthday, but I am afraid to say that I shall no longer be bound here to this earth when that time comes."

"Well, 'e was right about zat," Aunt Bernadette observed with a wry smile.

"The Higher Ups have decided my time here on earth with you is just about over, and I must get this to you before someone comes along and steals it," Melody continued. " The box I am entrusting to you and the things inside of it are of the highest value; guard them, treasure them. I hope some day you shall pass them on as well to someone you love; someone you treasure more than these items."

Bernadette raised her head at this and stared at Meril inquisitively. "Meril, what did 'e give to 'ou?"

"Hang on, I am looking for it," Meril replied, still digging through her trunk. She knew that the box was still in there. She had been hiding it in the bottom since she had gotten out of the Hospital Wing.

"It is my deepest regret that I never got to know you better. I wish I could go back and be a part of your life, but it is too late and there is nothing I can do but wish that you will be able to forgive me; that is my life's final request. And, well, it would also be nice to see your face one last time before I pass. Take care, my darling Meril. Love, Adalmund." Melody pulled her eyebrows even closer together, more confused than she had been before. "To see your face one last time…What does he mean by that? He never saw you."

Bernadette smiled sheepishly at that comment. "Well, actually, Melody, 'e 'as. Thaddeus, 'en Meril was a baby, took 'er to see 'im. 'E zought zat maybe zat could finally convince my fazer to 'ave contact wiz all of 'ou again. But it didn't. My fazer kicked Thaddeus out almost as soon as 'e arrived."

"He never told me anything about that."

"'E didn't zink 'ou would agree."

"Yeah, sucks, doesn't it, not being told things?" Meril asked, glaring at her mother. "Here, Aunt Bernadette. This is what he sent me." She handed her aunt the silver box filled with trinkets. Bernadette's eyes went wide when she saw it.

"I remember zis box!" She eagerly began looking through it. Meril watched for a moment before turning back to her mother.

"Why don't you read the other letter, too? It's right there."

Melody took another deep breath and began to read. "My dearest Meril. It has come to my attention that fifteen years ago today, you came onto this earth. I would like to wish you my most sincere hopes that you should have a wonderful day. I apologize for never wishing you a happy birthday in the past; I never knew. So, to make it up to you, I am sending you a gift for today's celebration, along with enough money to buy yourself fourteen others. I wish I could do more, but I am housebound because of my illness, and I do not trust anyone else to get you anything in my name, because it will undoubtedly be not even close to good enough."

"'E could 'have 'ad me get you zings! I am a wonderful shopper!" Bernadette exclaimed, putting the box of trinkets down. Meril and Melody both decided to ignore this comment, since they had no idea how to make a response.

"I fear that, no matter how hard I try though, I will never be able to make my absence up to you," Melody continued. "Perhaps you don't care, but in my old age I have been caring more and more. As I mentioned in my previous letter, it is my life's biggest regret. If I could change anything, that would be it. Everything else I would leave the same, if only I could fix that mistake—the biggest I have ever made. I will never be able to fix it completely. I may not even be able to make a patch in the giant rip, but I would like to try. If my illness has not taken me by Christmas, I would greatly like to see you. It will probably be my last opportunity. I feel myself growing weaker as each day progresses."

"How ironic that he should die _on _Christmas, before you even got the chance," Melody commented. This earned her a sharp glare from her sister-in-law and a wry smile from her daughter.

"Have a wonderful birthday, my dear, sweet girl. Love from, Adalmund." Melody put the letter down on the desk and looked at her daughter. "Why did you never mentioned any of this to me?"

Meril shrugged. "It just never crossed my mind."

"You could have met him a few days ago, if you had said something. We could have done that instead of walking around Bosham for the _hundredth_ time."

Meril shrugged. "I didn't know who he was; how was I supposed to know that I wanted to meet him?"

Melody's face fell. "Oh; right."

"So, what did 'e get 'ou for your birzday?"

Meril pulled the beautiful crystal Wizard's Chest set from her trunk. "This."

Bernadette gasped. "Oh, zat is gorgeous! My fazer 'as always known how to shop!" She gleamed with pride. "May I 'old it?"

"Sure." Meril handed the chess board to her aunt and turned towards her mother. "So, did you know Adalmund was sick?"

Slowly, Melody nodded. "Yes. I did. But I couldn't tell you. You didn't know who he was, and after the whole thing with my brother, I didn't want to add another load on you."

"I wish you had. I wish you had _years_ ago."

"After keeping it a secret for so long, I wasn't really sure how to. I couldn't just bring it up. There was never a good time."

"And _today_ was a good time?"

"Well, he died today and your aunt came and told us today, so yes. Today was the best time there has ever been to tell you about him."

"Okay, fine." Meril sighed, falling back down onto her bed. "Is there anything else? About him? About Dad? About me?"

Melody and Bernadette exchanged looks and shrugged, neither able to think of anything.

"What about the swan? Why is it all over everything? Does it mean something?"

"Well, of course it means somzing!" Bernadette exclaimed. "It is ze family seal!"

Meril cocked her eyebrow at her aunt. "Family seal?"

"Yes! Many families 'ave a family seal! Especially the pureblood ones!"

"Okay. Well why do we have a family seal? Because we're apparently rich—which, thank you, is _another_ thing I was never aware of."

"No, silly Meril! We 'ave a family seal because we are a pureblood family! 'Ou never knew zat eizer, did 'ou?"

"No. I had no idea I was a pureblood!" Meril once again turned and glared at her mother. "I was told I was a half-blood, since my great-grandmother was a muggle-born."

"Well, zat is a lie. Our 'ole family can be traced back to at least ze Medieval Times of England!"

Meril's eyes narrowed as she continued to look at her mother, who was attempting to shrink away.

"Why would you bother lying about _that_?! It is so inconsequential!"

"Well, your father and I thought that if you knew you were a pureblood, you might look for your relatives on a family tree. And you might find out that your grandfather hadn't died."

Meril groaned, burying her face in her pillow. She didn't know what to say to her mother. She didn't want to be mad; it was her _mom_ and she had at least been trying to protect her. But thinking about it made Meril's blood boil. They had no right to lie to her like that. Neither of them did. She understood that her aunt and cousins couldn't very well defy her parents; it wasn't their secret to tell. But really!

"Is that all? Are you all done ruining my Christmas yet or is there something else?"

"Well…" Meril's aunt began hesitantly. Meril sat up and stared at her, watching the woman as she uncomfortably wrung her hands.

"What?" Meril spat, her eyes glowing. It wasn't over yet? There was still _more?!_

"Well, we 'ave told 'ou everyzing zat zere is to tell. 'Owever, your grandfazer told me zat 'e was 'oping, even zough 'e is dead, maybe 'ou could come to ze 'ouse?"

Meril sighed. "Fine," she grumbled, falling back on her bed once again. "It would have to be today though. I am not messing up the rest of my holidays over this."

"Zat was exactly what I was 'oping 'ou would say!" Bernadette exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Alright. I will give you some time to get ready and zen we will go."

"Great."

With that, Melody and Bernadette exited Meril's room, closing the door behind them. Meril waited for a moment before going to her closet and pulled out a simple green turtle neck and a white, knee-length skirt. After changing quickly into it and slipping her feet into black boots that ran to her mid-calf, she ran a brush through her tangled hair until it ran smooth. Then she quickly applied the usual black eyeliner and mascara. As an after thought she quickly dabbed some clear lip-gloss onto her lips.

"Aunt Bernadette?" she called out, opening her bedroom door. "I'm ready to go."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

After learning that her grandfather had been rich, Meril shouldn't have been surprised by what she saw, but she was.

Her aunt had apparated to the front lawn of a huge house. The yard, or at least the part they were in, was a huge garden, filled with the most beautiful flowers Meril had ever seen despite the chilling cold and the thin blanket of snow on the ground. A cobblestone path weaved throughout it all, and a huge fountain of—what else—a swan was erected in the center. Meril dipped her fingers in the water as she read what was engraved on the edge of the fountain_-'Lizlow Estate.'_

"Nice, no?" Aunt Bernadette asked, looking down at her daughter with an unreadable smile. "Zis is where your fazer grew up. 'Ou did not know zat, did 'ou?"

Meril shook her head. "I had no idea. He didn't talk about where he grew up very much."

Bernadette shrugged, puffing out her cheeks. "I do not understand it, but zat was 'is choice. And 'e was always a very good brozer to me. I was not going to disrespect 'is wishes and tell 'ou."

Meril didn't say anything, just stared up at the house and its big, marble pillars. There was a beautiful half-circle balcony on the second floor, overlooking the garden. Ivy climbed up the walls of the house, making it appear all the more grand.

"Do 'ou wish to go in now, Meril?" Bernadette asked.

"Sure." Meril shrugged. As beautiful as the house was, she was not too eager to be there. She didn't like this reminder about how little she knew of her father. How little she knew about his family. And as nice as it was to learn, she would have preferred to have done this while he was still alive.

Bernadette lead her niece into the house slowly. She also seemed hesitant about this, like she was only trying to fulfill her dead father's wishes but didn't really want this herself. Meril couldn't imagine what would make her aunt _not_ want to show off the beautiful home she had lived in all throughout her childhood.

"Where are we, anyway?" Meril asked out of curiosity.

"In ze Oise department of Picardy county. In France, of course."

"Oh, alright."

The huge double doors were opened, revealing a grand entrance hall made of beautiful maple wood. Meril was awed. She couldn't pick out one single feature that stood out; it all just blended together, leaving Meril breathless. Every room left her feeling the same. She couldn't believe that her father had grown up in such a beautiful home.

When they entered Meril's father's old room, she nearly started to cry again. It was almost exactly as she thought it would be. There was a lot of astronomy stuff laying around, as well as books. The walls were deep blue and covered with beautiful paintings. But Meril didn't feel as if he would be returning any time soon; it hadn't been left the way he had last had it.

"Let's go," Meril whispered, choking on the lump in her throat. "I can't…"

Her aunt quickly led her away, closing the door behind her. They toured most of the rest of the house before slowly entering Adalmund's room. Meril felt her body tense when she saw the dead man still lying in his bed.

"I zought zey would 'ave taken 'im already," Bernadette grumbled, aggravated, as she flicked her hair out of her eyes. "Well, Meril, zis is your grandfazer. I am so sorry zat 'ou 'ave to see zis."

Adalmund lay very still in his bed. He looked like a very regal and serious man, even in his flannel pajamas. His hair was white and thinning, but he did very nicely with what he had, slicking it back. His skin was very pale, but other than that he looked as if he had been a healthy man. Looks can be deceiving.

"What color eyes did he have?" Meril whispered, her hand hovering above her grandfather's. That was the only thing she couldn't tell; his eyes were closed.

"Gray," Aunt Bernadette answered. She smiled sadly, stroking her father's hair gently. " 'E 'ad beautiful gray eyes."

Meril smiled softly, finally allowing her hand to fall, landing on top of his. It was cold and his skin was rough, like he was in desperate need of lotion. But, when you are dying, it is hard to be worried about thinks like rough skin.

"'E wrote zis for 'ou," Aunt Bernadette whispered. She handed a sealed envelope to her niece. Meril unsurely opened it, tearing at the wax seal.

_Dearest Meril,  
I am afraid that my time has come. I can feel it creeping upon me. Death has a cold hand, Meril, and it isn't very friendly. I am sad to say that I will not be seeing you again. As the fates would have it then. I hope that is it, and not that you had no desire to see me. Though I must say I would understand it if you did have no desire to see me. I have been a horrible grandfather. I wasted far too many years ignoring you all because I was angry with your late father. None of the most lavish gifts in the world could ever make up for that.  
I do, however, have one more gift for you. This one is given to you, not asking for forgiveness, but because you are Thaddeus's daughter—the heir to my heir. I leave you my house and almost everything in it, along with a large sum of money. This is all officially stated in my will, but I think that you should know. You will not be able to get a hold of the money until your are seventeen, and the house will not legally be yours until then either. But I have left it all to you.  
I feel death coming closer. I fear that I must end this letter short, though there is still so much left I have to say to you. You are a beautiful, talented girl Meril. Never forget that. I am so sorry for never acknowledging that. There really is no possible way to make up for that. However, maybe I will meet your father again in the afterlife and will be able to patch up that feud, once and for all._

_Love,_

_Your grandfather, Adalmund. _

_P.S. I would like for your portrait to be added to the portrait hall. Bernadette will show you what I mean and arrange the whole thing. _

Meril stared at the letter in shock. "Aunt Bernadette…" she pointed at the letter.

"Oui, Meril. I know what it says," Bernadette said, her mouth a grim line.

"Why do I…?"

"It says in zere, Meril, why it is zat 'ou get ze money. It is because you are Thaddeus's daughter—ze heir of his heir. It does not matter to 'im zat I am his daughter and zerefore should be ze next-in-line. To 'im, you come after Thaddeus, no matter what."

So that was what had been bothering Bernadette. That was why she hadn't really wanted to show Meril the house. Because she wanted it. For whatever reason—be it the prestige or the memories—Bernadette wanted that house. But it was not up for grabs—it had been handed off to her fifteen-year-old niece.

"I am so sorry… I wish there was something that I could do…"

"It is no matter. Let us just go see ze portraits, hm?"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

There was a whole huge wing of the mansion dedicated to just portraits. Everywhere Meril looked, there were portraits. And they weren't the kind she was used to, either. They didn't move or talk. They were still; silent. Meril felt her heart sink and realized suddenly that she wished they at least talked. She wanted to speak to her dad again.

"My fazer wants to put your portrait 'ere," Bernadette said, pointing at an empty canvas, right beside Thaddeus's portrait.

"Why does he want a portrait of me?" Meril asked, not very fond of the idea.

"'Ou are going to be ze owner of zis house. Why wouldn't 'e want your portrait?"

Meril shrugged, looking around once more. It seemed kind of…odd to her. And she hated the thought of posing, sitting for hours in some gown, all just so she could be painted.

"Okay…Well, when is this going to happen?"

"Sometime zis summer I would imagine," Bernadette said, waving her hand. "I will 'ave to arrange it all. I will get back to 'ou wiz ze details when I know zem." She sighed, looking around. "I had my portrait taken wiz your fazer when we were small children. See?"

Bernadette lead her niece to a painting. Meril's father looked to be about nine, her aunt seven or so. The two were dressed up very nicely; Thaddeus wore a suit with tail coats. His brown hair was parted and combed neatly. He had a very stern look on his face, his hands behind his back. Bernadette sat gracefully in the grass, a lilac colored dress falling over her feet. Her hair was curled and put up in a bun. She was not smiling either. The painting was beautiful, but it did not seem to capture any sort of feeling out of the two of them.

"I 'ave not had my portrait since zen." She sighed, running her fingers along nameplate underneath the painting.

"You should," Meril said. "In fact, I demand it. Have one with just you; one with uncle Laurent; one with Uncle Laurent, Avery, and Rousel. And have Avery and Rousel together, too. You are just as much a part of this family as I am."

Bernadette smiled at Meril. "Merci, Meril. I just do not know…"

"Do it. Please."

Bernadette considered this for a moment before grinning. "Well, alright. Zat could be very fun…"

Meril grinned. "Good. Oh…do you know…do these people make portraits out of photographs ever?"

"Well, I zink zat they could. But it is always better wiz a live subject. Why?"

"I…I wanted a portrait of my mother and father together. And maybe even one of the three of us…"

Bernadette smiled sadly, placing her hand on Meril's shoulder. "I will see. Zat is a lot of portraits at your demand, zough. Well, I would say it is six! Plus ze one of just 'ou! Seven portraits!"

"Well, we have time, don't we?"

"Of course. First zing's first zough; we 'ave to arrange your portrait. When do 'ou zink it would be most convenient?"

"Early summer, I suppose…My mom would know better." Meril sighed, running her hands over her skirt. She was getting antsy; this was not at all how she had pictured spending her Christmas. She stared longingly at one portrait which featured a man and a pregnant woman standing out in the snow, smiling.

"Well, Meril," Aunt Bernadette began, taking a deep breath. "I should be 'eading 'ome. I 'ave a Christmas dinner to attend to, and zen I must finish making arrangements for my fazer. 'Ou should be getting home, too."

"That is exactly what I was thinking," Meril said, yawning. "Could you get me home?"

"Of course." Bernadette grabbed onto her niece's elbow. Then, with a feeling resembling that of having one's naval pulled, they appeared back outside Meril's house.

"Wish your mozer a 'appy Christmas for me?"

"Of course. Happy Christmas, Aunt Bernadette!"

The woman smiled affectionately at her niece, running her hand through Meril's hair. Then, kissing her quickly on each cheek, there was a quick _Pop!_ and she was gone again.

Meril sighed, quickly walking through the thick snow to the front door.

"Ma?" she called out, stepping into the warm house. "I'm home."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril refused to allow the rest of her Christmas to be thrown off. She and her mother sat down to a nice dinner and talked happily. Meril was still upset, but she did not act it. How could she when her mother was finally looking like herself again?

"I got another letter," Meril said. She thrust the parchment across the table to her mom, who quickly scanned over it, her jaw dropping.

"You got the _house_?! That place is absolutely _gorgeous_! I was there once, before Thaddeus and I got engaged. It was absolutely breathtaking! Whoever made it and decorated…well, they knew what they were doing. That's all I am saying." She whistled, handing the letter back to her daughter. "When do we move in?"

Meril smiled, shaking her head. "I don't want to, Ma. It was pretty, but it was too much. I would like to explore it in more depth at some other point but I think…"

She thought again of that look on her aunt's face and the words she had said. Her aunt deserved that house; she had grown up there. Her memories were written on its walls. Meril was just a visitor.

"I think I might give it to Aunt Bernie," she said. Melody smiled, but Meril wasn't sure whether it was because of the nice gesture or the use of Aunt Bernadette's old childhood nickname.

"Alright," Melody said, nodding. "Okay. But think about it some more before you tell her anything. Visit it a few more times, make sure that is what you want. You don't want to go getting Bernie's hopes up only to have them fall again."

"Yeah, of course." Meril took another bite of the glazed ham. "Mm! This is delicious!"

"Isn't it?! I am very proud of this meal, I must say!"

"You should be! It is one of the best meals I have ever had here! And that is saying something! Your food is pretty good…most of the time." She smiled slyly at her mother.

"Well what is _that_ supposed to mean?!

Meril just laughed, shaking her head. "Nothing. Now eat your potatoes."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Melody and Meril sat in the living room for hours after dinner, watching movies and eating more dessert than they could possibly need. As Meril felt exhaustion falling over her like a blanket, she got up to finish packing. There were some gifts she wanted to bring back to Hogwarts with her. So, with a heavy heart, she went around the tree, picking up anything she could possibly want or need during the remainder of the year. When she was done, the tree looked significantly emptier.

Melody had already gone to bed when Meril trudged up the stairs for the last time, her eyelids drooping and her arms filled with the last of the gifts she was packing. The house was dark; silent. Meril dropped the gifts carelessly into her trunk and peered out the window into the night. The stars twinkled brightly on the night canvas about. Meril could just make out the twins Gemini and smiled. That had always been one of her father's favorite stories—the story of Pollux and Castor.

Meril smiled sadly, moving away from the window. As she got ready for bed, she could hear the clock by her bedside ticking away again. The countdown for a new day was continuing, but this time Meril could not hear her voice singing along with time. She hated when Christmas ended, even Christmases like the one she had just had. She was looking forward to the rest of her break, of course, but…

Meril glanced out the window again. The snow was still lazily falling from the sky, piling up slowly on the ground. She sighed. It just wasn't the same when it wasn't Christmas anymore.

As Meril climbed into her bed, snuggling under the covers, she could hear the clock downstairs chime twelve times. It was midnight. She glanced over at her clock, just to confirm that Christmas was over. It was. She sighed, turning over so she was facing the wall. She heard Pistachio mewing as she trotted through the hall and then as Meril's door squeaked open and the little furball pranced into her room. Not a second later, soft paws jumped up onto Meril's bed. Pistachio climbed over Meril and got off by her face. She gave her owner's nose a gentle lick before curling up beside her.

Meril smiled softly, rubbing the kitten's back with her thumb. "Happy Christmas Pistachio," she whispered; the kitten purred in response.

"Happy Christmas, Dad," Meril whispered a little louder this time, looking up at the ceiling. As she had suspected, only silence answered her, just as it had been for the past seven Christmases.

_Why would this one be any different?_

Meril closed her eyes again, taking a deep breath. As she began humming her favorite Christmas carol to lull her to sleep, she felt a sudden warmth on her forehead, as if someone touched her. Already asleep, Meril smiled.

"Daddy."

* * *

**a/n** Okay, so I think I liked this chapter was pretty good, mostly. It was really annoying writing a French accent though, especially since I have NO CLUE how to write one. So I was just winging it. You can imagine the rest. Or could have. Anyway, I would love to hear what you think of the chapter and the story so far. So please, feel free to leave a review :) Thanks!

xox

* * *


	29. Into the Fireplace

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Eight—**  
Into the Fireplace

* * *

When Meril arrived in the Scarlett family's sitting room at 8:30 the next morning, Heather was already wide awake and waiting for. Meril had barely stepped out of the fireplace when Heather jumped off of her seat on the sofa and tackled her best friend.

"Meril!" she shouted, hugging the brunette tight. Pistachio, cradled in Meril's arms, meowed loudly in protest. "I've _missed_ you! Ten days is too long for us to be apart!"

Meril laughed. "Yeah. I missed you, too. But I have been _so_ busy. So much happened just in the past two days."

Heather raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "_Really_?"

Meril nodded. "Yeah. I'll tell you about it later."

"Okay, sounds good. Here! Let me help you with that!" Heather reached forward and grabbed one of the handles of Meril's trunk. They made it as far as the stairs before giving up.

"We'll get Bradley to bring it up later," Heather said, waving her hand in the air. "Speaking of Bradley…" A mischievous grin spread across the blonde's face. "You want to wake him up?"

Meril's face broke out into a wide grin as a mischievous glint brightened her tired eyes. "Let's do it." Bothering Bradley was a longstanding tradition that Meril had been missing a lot recently.

The two best friends crept silently up the stairs, though it wouldn't have mattered if they had been noisy. Elephants could be stampeding across the front lawn and Bradley wouldn't wake up. He had always been a heavy sleeper, as well as a sleep walker _and _a sleep_ talker_.

His bedroom door creaked open and Heather slipped inside, quickly followed by Meril. The two exchanged quick looks before simultaneously jumping on top of him.

He barely even stirred.

The two girls stood and started to jump up and down on the bed, loudly singing a chorus of the latest Weird Sister's song.

Bradley grumbled, but he did not wake.

They fell back down on top of him with great force, breathing heavily in his face.

Nothing.

Heather rolled off of the bed with a thud and a grunt. "Meril," she said, propping herself up on her elbows. "You need to do something."

"Like what?" Meril asked. She blinked rapidly, trying to keep herself up. She had gotten up entirely too early to finish getting ready and to say good-bye to her mother.

"I don't know…Something that will startle him into waking up. Kiss him or something!" Heather said offhandedly.

"Ew, you kiss him!" Meril retorted, her face clearly showing her distaste.

Heather simply stared at Meril, allowing the stupidity of her suggestion to sink in. Slowly, Meril's face fell blank as her words echoed back in her head. A rush of color came into her cheeks.

"Really Meril? _Really? _He's my _brother._"

"Sorry," Meril grumbled. "I'm tired and I forgot in my disgust. He's like a brother to me, too, Heath."

"That's true…but it sure would startle him! I bet you anything he would wake up! Besides, it isn't like you're _actually _related."

"I never thought I would see the day when my friend _asked_ me to kiss their brother…Usually you wouldn't find that."

"Meril, just _do it_ already!"

Meril sighed in resignation. "Fine, fine." She grabbed Bradley's scruffy face between her two hands and straightened it. He thankfully slept with his mouth closed, though there was still a path of drool running down his cheek. With disgust, Meril grabbed a tissue and wiped it off. Then, slowly, she lowered her face towards his.

_This is just weird_, she thought, her face an inch from his. _He is six years older than me. Six _years_!_

Her lips pressed quickly against his. She pulled away almost immediately, barely able to believe what she had just done. She loved Bradley dearly, but kissing him was just weird.

Oh, the things she did for the sake of mischief.

As Meril continued to sit on the bed, her nose curled up in distaste and gagging, Heather was rolling around on the floor, laughing so hard that she was crying. Tears were literally streaming down her face. She opened her mouth to say something, but instead just continued laughing.

Meril wasn't finding it all that funny. Bradley hadn't even woken up. She had kissed him—something he _better_ not have been expecting—and nothing happened. His lip may have twitched a little from the unfamiliar sort of contact, but besides that, nothing.

"I can't believe I did that and _nothing_ even happened!" Meril groaned. Her head fell down for a moment but then she picked it back up again and punched Bradley forcefully on the shoulder.

Nothing.

He really was a heavy sleeper.

It was a little unnerving.

"Merlin, this is becoming a real chore," Heather whined, her laughter quickly ceasing. "I didn't think it would be so hard."

"Me, neither." Meril collapsed on the bed, her head landing by Bradley's exposed feet. As soon as she breathed in she felt her lungs constrict. That was the most _horrid_ smell she had ever smelt coming from a human being. Quickly, she jerked up, gagging.

"Heath! I think I have an idea!" she exclaimed before going into a coughing fit. The smell of his feet was still tingling in her nostrils.

Without explaining what she was going to do, Meril swung her legs over the side of the bed and ran back down the stairs to her trunk. Right on top in a special box she kept her treasures—the Dungbombs. She slipped her hands into gloves, grabbed two, and carefully ran back up to Bradley's room.

Heather was still sitting on the wooden floor, looking confused, when Meril skidded back into the room. She poked Bradley to make sure he was still actually asleep. Once this was confirmed, she tugged at Heather's elbow and ran back out into the hallway.

"Mer, what are you doing?" Heather whispered, getting behind Meril and poking her head through the doorway. As a response, Meril lifted the two Dungbombs she held carefully in her hand as she pulled the door mostly closed.

"Meril Emeline Lizlow! You are brilliant!" Heather praised, beaming.

"Merci!" Meril exclaimed. "Now shush!" She held her finger to her lips. "On the count of three?"

Heather nodded. "One."

"Two."

"Three!" Heather exclaimed.

Meril tossed the first one through the crack. It landed briefly at his bedside before exploding in a cloud of smelly gas which slowly leaked outwards towards the hall. When Bradley seemed to be stirring, Meril let loose the second one. It had barely exploded when Meril grabbed Heather's elbow and fled down the staircase.

"Heather! Meril? What are you two up to?" Caroline Scarlett asked curiously as the pair flew past her, a whirl of hair.

"You don't want to know!" Heather answered, laughing as she skidded into the kitchen, Meril right at her side.

"What the bloody _hell_ is that _smell_?!" Bradley shouted from upstairs. Meril and Heather burst into fits of laughter as they listened to the twenty-one-year-old stomp around, having a tantrum like a small child.

"No…I think I do want to know," Caroline said, following the two teenagers into the kitchen. "What did you two do to Bradley? Oh." She turned towards Meril and smiled warmly. "Hey, sweetie. Nice to see you. But really, what did you guys do?"

Meril and Heather quickly exchanged looks, trying their hardest not to start laughing again. Heather picked up a banana, peeled it, and stared at it, shifting it back and forth in her hands.

"We just wanted to wake him up," she said innocently. "We knew how badly he would want to see Meril."

"We tried to get him up nicely," Meril continued. "Kind of. But that didn't work so…"

"We stunk him up!" Heather finished, grinning brightly.

"It was for his own good, Mrs. Scarlett," Meril said comfortingly, patting the blonde woman on the shoulder in a consoling manner.

Mrs. Scarlett looked down at the hand and laughed. "Meril," she said, shaking her head, "it is better for _everyone_ when he just stays asleep." As she said this, Bradley's quick footsteps could be heard making their way towards the kitchen.

"Meril!" he exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger in the brunette's direction. "I should have _known_! The Dungbombs…who could that be but the Dungbomb Queen herself?!"

Meril mock curtsied. "At your service."

He groaned, snatching Heather's half-eaten banana from her hands and finishing it off in one bite. Heather stared at him indignantly "What did you do it for?"

Meril shrugged. "We thought it would be fun I guess. It was Heather's idea."

The blonde's indignation increased. "It was _not_!"

"Uh, yeah it was! I believe your _exact_ words would be: 'Speaking of Bradley, want to wake him up?'"

Bradley's face lit up. "You two were talking about me, eh?"

"Oh don't get so happy," Heather snarled playfully, "we were just saying we'd have you bring her trunk upstairs."

"Oh." His face fell.

"Anyway, it was your idea to chuck the Dungbombs into his room, Mer."

"Oh. Yeah, I wasn't denying that," Meril laughed.

"That's always your idea."

"Again, very true."

"Meril," Mrs. Scarlett said suddenly, walking back into the kitchen and putting an end to the conversation. "Would you like something to eat or to drink?"

"Oh, sure. Um…just a glass of milk, please? And a scone if you have one. Thank you very much."

"Of course, dear." Mrs. Scarlett smiled brightly at Meril. "It's nice to see you again. We've missed you around the house."

"I've missed you all, too. And this is a very nice house you have here."

"Oh, that's right! You haven't been here yet…well, Heather will have to walk you around town later. We are right in Westminster. It's great, really." She smiled again, gently brushing her hair out of her hazel eyes.

"That sounds nice," Meril replied nodding. "Thank you," she added as Caroline set the milk and scone down before her. The older woman gave the teenager a big hug and a kiss on the head.

"Welcome back."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The Scarletts lived on Barton Street, an old street dating back to the eighteenth century, at the very least. They had a bright red door, their name written in gold lettering on it. Their windows had window boxes, and I was sure they had the most beautiful flowers in the spring. But currently, a light sheet of snow covered the ground. Heather and Meril pulled their cloaks tightly around them, walking into the biting cold wind.

"At least it's not raining," Heather said optimistically, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear. "It's almost always raining here."

Meril shrugged. "Well, that's a plus," she laughed. "Where are we headed, anyway?"

Heather shrugged off-handedly. "I dunno. I thought I would just show you around. There's a lot to see here, you know. Like Westminster Abbey and…well, it's all a bunch of Muggle rubbish, but it isn't all so bad." Heather shrugged again. "I've gotten used to it; it's not so different from going into Bosham. And since my mother works part-time in the Muggle world, it was kind of necessary."

Meril nodded right along with what her best friend was saying. "I understand. What does your mom do again?"

"I'm not entirely sure, really." Heather laughed. "I think she works at Harrods's or something."

"Harrods's?"

Heather shrugged once more. "It's a big department store or something like that. She doesn't really talk about it much, and I've never been there. I haven't really been much anywhere outside this part of the city. Although…" Heather's eyes took on an excited twinkle. She grabbed Meril's hands and stared at her, grinning. "I went to Notting Hill one Saturday. Have you ever been to Notting Hill?"

Meril slowly shook her head. "What is it?"

"Well, it's a part of London," Heather began explaining, walking once more. "It's great. I fell in love with it as soon as we got off the tube—have you ever been on the tube?"

Meril shook her head ever so slightly. "I've only really been to Diagon Alley in London. What is the tube, anyway?"

"It's an underground train!" Heather exclaimed, getting incredibly excited. "I _love_ it! Some summers I just ride around and get out at a random spot and explore for a little before returning home. It's a brilliant invention! Anyway, what was I talking about? Bollocks, I forgot…" She was silent for a moment, looking out into space thoughtfully. "Right! Notting Hill! Well they have this thing called Portobello Market and all of these stores bring merchandise onto the street and sell it. It's wonderful! I have bought some wonderful vintage clothing!" She smiled wistfully. "And I swear I've seen old wizarding books at some stalls. Muggles are so bloody stupid sometimes; they don't even know when they've stumbled upon a bit of magic."

"Did you buy the book?" Meril inquired as they rounded the corner.

"No, of course not!"

"Why?"

"It was so bloody expensive! And I had already spent all of my money…"

Meril laughed, shaking her head. "Of course you did, Heather."

The blonde grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "Right! So, what's been going on with you? You said a lot has happened the past two days?"

"Oh, yeah…" Meril frowned, not entirely sure if she wanted to get into it right then. She had finally gotten it off of her mind; she didn't really want it to come back right then. But she had promised to mention to tell her about it later, and she couldn't imagine a better time than this—in the city, just them surrounded by a bunch of uncaring strangers. She gave a resigned sigh. "Alright. Do you want the big news or the small news first?"

"Small," Heather answered immediately. "I want it to still seem important if it is after the big news it is more of an afterthought and I don't know if I will even have the chance to care about it," she explained, answering Meril's curious looks.

"Okay," Meril laughed. "Well, on Christmas Eve, my mom and I were talking. I asked her about what made her decide to be a travel guide and she went off on a wild tangent. She ended up telling me a lot about herself; the biggest part that she had an older brother."

Heather gasped, her hazel eyes going wide. "No way! What's his name?! What's he like?! Did she tell you about him? Why did she never mention anything about him before?!"

"Heath, I think you missed the key word. _Had_. He died a long time ago."

Heather's face fell. "How long ago?"

"He was nine years old; my mom was six."

"Oh my goodness! Merlin's beard, what happened?!"

"He drowned. He was a squib, but he was trying to prove that he wasn't. He was trying to make something happen in the water; he was never a good swimmer, my mom said. His name was David Roy Walters, and she never told me about him because it hurts too much to talk about, she said." Meril sighed. She still couldn't believe that.

"Whoa…If that's the small news, I can't imagine what the big news is! Finding out about a relative is pretty big! What, did one of the twins propose or something?" she teased, poking Meril in the side; Meril didn't laugh, merely twisted the ring George had given her.

"Heather," she said warningly, turning the ring around and around. "That isn't funny."

"Well you already have the ring," Heather murmured, staring enviously at Meril's finger and the beautiful ring she was twisting around on it.

"Really not funny," Meril said again; she was surprisingly serious about this subject. "It's just a birthday present. It doesn't mean anything to him."

Heather raised an eyebrow skeptically. "But it does to you, doesn't it?"

Meril scowled. "This isn't what we are talking about right now! I don't want to talk about this right now!" She stopped twisting the ring around her finger, thrusting her hands into her pockets. "I was telling you about what happened yesterday! But if you would rather talk about my failing love life…"

"Fine, fine! What happened? Jeez, drama queen."

Meril glared, taking a deep breath. "Remember that Adalmund guy who sent me letters? One for my birthday and one when I was in the Hospital Wing before that?" Heather nodded slowly. "Well, I found out who he is."

"Get out!"

Meril shook her head, smiling. "My aunt came to my house yesterday to talk to my mom about something serious, but I was eavesdropping. Do you want to take a stab at who he is?"

"Your mom's secret husband?" Heather joked, knowing full well how impossible that was. "No, I have no clue who he could be. Someone your aunt knows, I gather. Your mom, too, probably."

"You got that right. You don't want to make a guess?"

Heather shook her head. "You should just say."

"Okay, fine." Meril paused for dramatic effect. The two stopped walking and faced each other; Heather held her breath in suspense. "He was my grandfather."

Heather's jaw dropped, but her breath still seemed to be caught in her chest. Meril waited patiently for her friend to wrap her head around this. She looked around the street where they had stopped, taking it all in.

"Whoa," Heather finally squeaked; Meril looked at her and smiled slightly at her reaction. "Are you serious?"

"Yes I am. But that's not all…"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril told Heather all about it. She told her about having a grandfather, being rich, being a pureblood. She told it all, from touring the house to being informed that Adalmund wanted a portrait. She explained her anger and frustration; why she had so many things which were swans. There wasn't a single detail Meril left out; it was like creating a film with words. Heather reacted constantly, never disappointing Meril with her gasps or her scowls.

As the two slid into a little café somewhere in town, Heather shook her head again. "I still can't believe that they never _told_ you!"

"Trust me; I can't either." Meril shook her hair out of her face, huffing. "You'd think I should be madder at my mom, for continuing the secret…but for some reason, I'm angrier at my father. He wanted to tell me…but he didn't. And…" Meril shook her head, picking up a menu and staring curiously at it.

"And what?"

Meril looked up at Heather and shrugged. "It just…I can't explain it. It makes me angry. And then, of course, it's because of him that my mom didn't tell me sooner."

"He was just trying to protect you," Heather whispered, unsure whether she should really be saying anything. Meril looked up at her best friend, her surprised written clearly on her face.

"By lying to me? Since when is lying _protecting_ people? People can have the best intentions, but lying only hurts in the end."

"Meril, I know that. But he's _dead_.And I don't mean to sound insensitive saying that—really. But he's dead. Don't be mad at him. You can't be mad at a dead person."

Meril's eyes narrowed as she looked at Heather; her jaw locked obstinately. But she didn't say anything, just stared at Heather. Heather, however, did not back off. She was a Hufflepuff, yes, and, as one, was labeled a pushover by definition. But she knew how to handle Meril, and she was not going to be thrown aside; she held her ground.

"Meril, what good does it do?" she continued, setting her menu aside. "He can't come apologize to you; he can't come kiss you good night and brush your hair out of your face, telling you he made a mistake. He can't tell you he loved you; he can't do anything. And you are just going to be mad at your dead father, and it won't go away, because there is no way for him to make it. It's just going to make you irritable. So…let it go."

Meril's face fell. She opened and closed her mouth, quite resembling a fish with her eyes wide and unblinking. At last, she shook her head. "Heath…" She bit her lip and shook her head again. "I can't."

"Yes you can! It's so easy! Just think about him, how much he loved you and how much you loved him and breathe out—let it go."

"No, Heather. I mean I _can't. _I can't do this. Thinking about him…it used to make me sad, but suddenly it's just making me angry. And I don't _want_ to be mad at him, but I can't help it."

"Why do you think that is?"

The waiter approached them just then, smiling charmingly at the both of them. "Good morning! What can I get you two lovely ladies this morning?"

"Some jasmine tea and a scone, please," Heather said, barely looking at him.

"Alright." He scribbled it down. With another charming smile already playing on his lips, he turned towards Meril, pen poised above the paper, ready for the next order.

"I'll just have some earl grey tea. Thank you."

"Sounds good. I'll be right back with those orders." He smiled once again at the two and walked away.

"As I was saying!" Heather exclaimed. She leaned back in towards Meril. "Why do you think it is that you are suddenly so mad at him?"

Meril shrugged. "I went to bed a little upset about the whole thing, but mostly just missing him, like I do every Christmas. But when I woke up…I didn't want to talk about any of it; I couldn't even think of him. I have no idea why."

"Do you think that, maybe, you are just tired of missing him, so you _need_ to be mad at him so you can stop wishing he was there."

Meril just shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that I can't talk about this anymore. Just drop it and let's talk about something else. Tell me how your break has been going."

"Oh, it's been great, you know. I've just done a lot of…wandering around. Shopping. I have spent a few days with Cedric. He took me to dinner Christmas Eve—some cute little place in Diagon Alley. It was very nice." She smiled warmly, but she wasn't excited about it. "It really hasn't been excited. I've just been looking forward to this part." She motioned between Meril and herself.

The tea and scone arrived in short order. The two friends wasted no time drinking and eating, more than ready now to get back to the house. They were cold, and Meril's feet hurt from so much walking. Plus, she was exhausted from waking up so early.

As they walked out, pulling their cloaks tightly back around them to fight the cold, Meril noticed the young waiter with his charming smile watching them go. And suddenly she felt a weird hollowness in her chest; she had no idea what it was about. It was a surprisingly heavy feeling, for something so empty.

She lifted her hand and waved at the waiter, smiling sadly and briefly at him before turning her head and disappearing around the corner, Heather pressing in close to her side.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

That evening, Meril had completely managed to push everything from her mind once more. They were having a second, mini-Christmas. Gifts were exchanged on a small scale. Meril gave two presents to every member of the Scarlett family—one from her mother, and one from herself. In return, she received a gift from each of them. Mr. and Mrs. were going to owl a gift to Melody, and so was Heather. Eliza and Bradley were sending cards with the gifts; as much as they both appreciated the gifts and liked her, they had never really gotten to know her the way Heather had. Meril knew that; Melody knew that.

Over the next two days, Meril got to feel like part of the family again. She welcomed the warm embraces of Mr. and Mrs. Scarlett, teased and was teased by Bradley, and was followed and idolized by Eliza once more. And Heather…well, she had always been family. There had never been any real question there.

With each hug, shove, and admiring look, though, Meril felt herself become angrier and angrier towards her father. It was a subtle feeling; a small flame slowly growing larger and larger, eating away at her insides. She tried to dowse it, but every single time, without fail, silence fell over her and she got a chance to think, that subtle feeling became a raging fit of anger boiling in the pit of her stomach. Ad no matter what she did—no matter how hard she tried to get rid of it—it just wouldn't leave.

She did her best to hide it, but Meril had never been much of an actress. The Scarletts all saw right through her—they knew her too well for her to really hide anything from them.

This fact only kindled the fire.

"You know, you can talk to me, Meril," Heather said suddenly as the two packed. It had been completely silent up to that point, which was unusual in itself. "You can talk to any of us. You're family; we're more than willing to listen to whatever you are going through." She smiled sincerely.

"I know. And if I knew what was going on with me, I would more than happily talk to you about it. But after the café thing…" She shrugged. "I'd rather not."

"Yeah, sure. Okay." Heather shrugged, folding a shirt carefully and then throwing it into her trunk. "That's fine. I was just letting your know."

"I know. Trust me. But I don't want to talk about that. I want to…play exploding snap! Or throw Dungbombs at Brad! I can't have you all treating me like 'Poor-Meril-with-the-Dead-Dad' again. And that's what I feel like this is. We're on vacation! Nothing bad has happened! Let's just have fun!"

"Yeah! Okay! Let's just finish packing and then--"

"No!" Meril interrupted, grabbing Heather's hand and dragging her to the door. "No time for waiting! Let's just…play! Carpe diem or whatever."

Heather laughed, shaking her long blonde hair. "Okay, you're right! Carpe diem or whatever!"

"That's the spirit!"

Meril closed the door before realizing all of her supplies were in her trunk. She slipped back inside, grabbing a box filled with her Exploding Snap cards and firecrackers before rejoining Heather in the hall.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

That night, the house was lit up like a beacon in the night—a lone firefly in an empty field of darkness. Combined with the endless noises coming from it—the cracks, playful screams, and hearty laughter—it was as if the house was a firecracker all in itself. For hours it continued this way until Mr. and Mrs. Scarlett had to put an end to it. Although their carrying on was having no effect on the Muggles around them—due to the charms on the house to elude any unwanted attention from noises and effects just like these—it was preventing _them_ from sleeping.

He party then broke up. Bradley, claiming to have to get up early in the morning for "work," kissed each Heather, Eliza, and Meril on the head before laughing his way off to bed.

"That was fun," Eliza said shyly, smiling at her older sister and Meril as any idol-worshipping ten-year-old would before quickly disappearing up the stairs to her bedroom.

"We should probably finish packing," Heather commented.

"I'm finished," Meril said. "I didn't take much out. But I'll help you, if you want."

Heather shook her head. "No, I'm done, too. I just thought you might not be."

"Ironic," Meril commented, chuckling.

"So do you want to go to bed? We are getting up early tomorrow, too."

"Yeah…Do you mind if I just stay out here for a bit?"

"No, not at all. I am just going to go get ready for bed." Heather smiled slightly, giving Meril's elbow a squeeze. "That was fun. We—me, Bradley, and Eliza—well…we haven't done anything like that since Eliza was a lot younger. Thank you."

Meril just smiled slightly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well, that's just what I do, I guess."

"Yeah, it is." Heather smiled at her best friend again before jogging up the stairs. Meril stayed where she was, positioned on the second floor, staring blankly out in front of her. She was tired, admittedly, but there was too much whirring around in her mind for her to sleep just yet.

Slowly, she walked towards the window. She stared through the glass for a moment before opening it up. The air outside was cold, just as it should have been, but Meril didn't mind. She stuck her head out into the winter air and looked up at the dark sky. Her mouth quickly slid from a slight smile to a frown.

"I can't see any stars," she whispered. "There's too much light pollution here." She turned to look over her shoulder at Eliza who had appeared silently and suddenly seven feet behind Meril.

Eliza was quiet, especially for a ten-year-old Scarlett. The corners of her lips quivered upwards into the slightest of smiles and she just shrugged, used to this. Meril turned back towards the window, staring desperately up at the blank sky. She needed to see those stars.

Eliza hesitantly stepped towards her. Meril didn't react, just concentrated on the sky, willing stars to appear in the sky. She wanted to find the constellations and the different stars; she wanted to test her knowledge on random facts and stories about them. But she couldn't do that if she couldn't see them. Nothing came into her head if nothing was in the sky. It was all just…blank.

Suddenly there was a hand on her elbow. Startled, she whipped her head around and found Eliza beside her, nearly as tall as her and five years younger. The two stood there silently and Meril found herself quickly looking the younger over.

_She's gotten cute,_ Meril thought initially. Of course, she had always been cute—in a little kid adorable sort of way—but now she was…growing up. Meril quickly took in the changes that had occurred since she had last seen Eliza. Her blonde hair had grown out to her shoulder blades. Her eyes, hazel like her siblings', seemed a little lighter than they had been, but her eyebrows were drawn too tight, as if the weight of the world was resting solely on her shoulders. She was finally growing into her nose, which had always been a little too large for her face. She had grown a lot taller, her head touching Meril's nose. Too soon, she would be joining the rest of the world in towering over Meril. It was inevitable.

"So why were you looking for the stars?" Eliza asked, removing her hand from Meril's elbow and placing it on the window ledge.

Meril shrugged. "I like the stars."

"Why?"

Meril fell silent for a moment, thinking over her answer. Why _did_ she like the stars? In all honesty, she didn't know. They calmed and mystified her. As a small child, they had always entertained her; enchanted her. But she didn't know if there was anything deeper then that. So, unable to explain how they made her feel, she just settled for, "I don't know."

Eliza nodded. "I know how that is. It's just one of those things that, when you look at it, something clicks in place, right? And you don't know what it is, but you know you like it. And if you try to explain why you can't explain it, you still can't find the right words." The two laughed at this before it drifted off and they both found themselves staring back out the window.

After a moment of silent, Meril cleared her throat and glanced at Eliza. "My dad loved the stars," she whispered. This caught the younger girl's attention. She didn't remember Meril's father—she had barely been a year old when he died—but she knew what had happened to him. She had heard a lot about him.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. He taught me…most of what I know about them. He knew everything about them—constantly spewing off facts and stories. Now, whenever I look at them, I feel like I am listening to him again. Like he's right there, just out of sight. And if I search long and hard enough, I'll find him." Meril shook her head. "I know I sound silly."

"No. You sound like you miss your dad."

"Eh, what do you know. You're ten. I sound ridiculous. It's been, what, nine years? I was six when he died, I'm fifteen now…that's nine. Or it will be in March. I should be done with this. It's been a long time."

"So? Who says you have to be done missing him just because it's been a while? I would still miss him. I kind of do. Well, I feel like I missed _out_ anyway." She smiled—a real smile, the kind that shows teeth. Meril chuckled.

"He was great. I love my dad. It's just…" Meril felt the anger boiling in her still, just at the mention of his name. Talking about him clearly was not helping the case, but she didn't know how to make it stop. She missed him, but she was so angry.

"It's just what?" Eliza gently inquired. She looked carefully at Meril, her eyes focused just on her. She didn't seem so idol-worshipping anymore, suddenly. She seemed like a friend.

"I'm mad," Meril admitted, shrugging. She had told Heather she had gotten past it, that it was just a brief little phase that had passed right through her system. It wasn't. So amount of talking or searching for him in the stars would change that. He was the only one who seemed to have any chance at doing anything about it, and he was gone.

"Why?" Eliza prodded. She wasn't cautious as she always seemed to be. She didn't care that, maybe, she was over-stepping the line, asking so much of Meril. But Meril really didn't care. Eliza was like a little sister, usually—someone you didn't really _talk_ to, but you cared a lot about. However, she was looking a whole lit different right then, Meril realized again. She really was acting like a friend. And maybe, in the morning, that would be over. Maybe, as soon as the two stepped away from the window and went to bed, everything would be back to normal and Eliza would be Meril's fan-club, and Meril would just be a sort of second sister. But right then, Meril suddenly felt like she needed someone new to talk to. Someone who didn't necessarily know about everything else, who wouldn't get too worried about it and try to help her get past it—someone who would just…listen.

"Well," Meril began hesitantly. She clenched and unclenched her hand, watching the way her fingers curled. "It started the morning after Christmas—two days ago, I guess. I just woke up…mad. And I just knew it was at him because the feeling was so unfamiliar. I was never mad at my dad. Never. Especially not after his death." She was silent for a moment. "I think it has something to do with what he kept from me—what my mom kept from me for him. But it can't just be…_that_…can it?"

Eliza shrugged silently. Neither said anything more for a moment. When Eliza spoke again, it was just a whisper as she continued to stare out into the night. "Maybe. Maybe not. But probably not. How did you feel when he died?"

"Sad," Meril answered immediately. "All I seemed to do was cry for a long time. And then, my mom and I—we just stopped. Neither of us cried; neither of us talked about it. We didn't clean his stuff up, but, for the most part, we didn't make a point of leaving it there. The only thing that stayed the same was his office. We had an unspoken agreement to leave everything as it was in there. After a few years, we didn't feel weird when he came up in stories, but we still didn't talk about him on purpose. It stayed that way until…this year. She's the only person I really talk about him with. Sometimes I will with Heather and right now I am with you, but it's still a sore spot."

"Why do you think it's so sore?"

Meril stayed silent for a moment. She glanced back down at her hand. Her nails were digging into her palm, the entire hand white. When she stretched the fingers out again, the blood quickly flowed back, coloring her hand. On her palm, she could just make out the marks her fingernails had left.

"I was only six," she whispered hoarsely. "I was _six_. Six years old."

"That's young. Must have been really rough."

"It has been. He's been gone longer than he was here…"

Suddenly, something in Meril's mind just seemed to click into place. He left early, and she had missed out on so much because of it—so many opportunities to get to know him, to do things, to change. That was why she was mad. Not because of what he had hidden—not just that, anyway—but because he had left too early to tell her. He had left to early for a lot of things, and she was deprived of a real family because of him. Every time the Scarletts treated her like family, it burned because she didn't have her own to treat her that way. It was just her and her mom, and that relationship seemed more like a friendship than a mother-daughter one most of the time. Maybe, if her dad was around still, they would be more of a family. Maybe she would have siblings. There were a lot of maybes, but one thing was sure—Meril's life would have been a lot different.

"I think I know why," she finally squeaked, catching Eliza's attention.

"What do you think it is?"

"He left."

"I'm sorry? What do you mean?"

Meril shook her head. "He left. I am mad because he left." She didn't want to explain it any further. Words could barely do justice, especially when she couldn't find the right ones. "Thank you so much, Eliza." She touched the younger girl's arm in gratitude, a warm smile spreading carefully across her lips. "I'm going to bed. Good night."

"'Night."

Meril took one last look at the sky, still disappointed that no stars had pulled the covers off of them yet, before turning her back and going up to get ready for bed. She had an early morning.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The morning was gray, as mornings almost always were in London. Meril and Heather grudgingly heaved themselves out of bed at 7 o'clock, much earlier than either would like to be awake. But, in order to get as much "Weasley Time" (the twins had dubbed it this, not them) as possible, they needed to get there in the morning. Especially if they wanted "The Great Weasley Breakfast Experience" right at the beginning of their "journey."

"If we skip breakfast," Heather began, slipping into a pink turtle-neck sweater, "we could save time and get there even earlier."

Meril's eyes bugged out at the suggestion. "Skip—breakfast?" she choked. "Seriously?" Her stomach growled in protest.

"Yes, seriously! Did you _not_ hear all about 'The Great Weasley Breakfast Experience?' I mean, Fred and George went into an _extreme_ amount of detail on that one. I was salivating just _hearing_ about it. How could I eat anything _here_ when I know what's waiting for me there?"

"It's funny what **_extreme hunger_** makes you do."

"Oh, grab a banana or something. I am not making eggs. Or waffles! Or anything else!" Meril scowled; Heather knew her too well. "I am saving my appetite for their house."

"But I've _had_ it before!"

"Well, I haven't! And I am not going to taint the experience with my own horrible cooking. Or with my mom's worse cooking."

Meril ran a hand over her black v-neck ribbed sweater, wiping the fuzz off carelessly. "Fine, fine. I'll just…grab a banana like you said." She pulled on a pair of light jeans.

"Thanks, Mer!" Heather said cheerily, pulling a belt through the loops of her jeans.

"Mm-hm. Sure." Meril crossed her arms over her chest, watched as Heather dug through her closet for a pair of shoes, finally emerging with a pair of brown knee-high snow boots. She pulled them right up over her jeans, tucking her long hair behind her ear.

"Do you need any shoes to wear?"

"No. I have mine." Meril pointed at her black penny-loafers which made Heather cringe.

"Alright, fine." Heather effortlessly pulled her brush through her hair. Then, turning to Meril, she grinned widely. "May I play with your hair?"

Meril eyed her best friend distrustfully. "Okay, fine," she said slowly. Heather's face lit up once again. She came towards Meril with her brush at the ready. She pushed up one sleeve and there was a second one constructed of hair ties underneath it.

Meril came out of this with not only her hair done in two French braids, but also with her makeup done—black eyeliner drawn slightly darker than usual, eyelashes long, darkened, and curled, a modest amount of pale blue eye-shadow, and some blush. There were silver studs in her ears, and Heather had somehow managed to dig out a matching necklace and bracelet from the collection of Adalmund gifts in Meril's chest.

"I feel ridiculous," Meril stated, staring at herself in the mirror.

"But you look _gorgeous_!"

"Why?" Meril stared blankly at Heather, waiting for her answer. The blonde, however, was confused.

"What do you mean, why?"

"I mean, why did you do all of this to me? And why is your makeup much…less?"

"It isn't less. It's the same amount I always wear—yours is what I wear, too. It's just a lot for you. I didn't get all dressy, though, because _I_ have no one to impress."

It took a moment for these words to sink in for Meril. When they did, she frowned, glaring at Heather. "I would wash it off now, but then we would be late. Now…let me get my banana and let's go."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril and Heather appeared in the Burrow's living room around 9 o'clock, the first pulling out of the fireplace with her trunk just in time for the next to appear.

It felt nice to be back at the Burrow. Meril smiled as she looked around, taking in all of the little oddities that she had so missed. There was the seven-handed clock, telling about the status of each Weasley. That had always been a favorite of Meril's. Then there were all the other comforts. The old, worn-looking couch. The dusty floor. The mismatched everything, all pulling together to make a home Meril had always envied. She eyes the lopsided Christmas tree with an even larger grin.

"Hello?" Heather called out as Meril continued to take everything in.

Yes, the house was abnormally still. Usually everyone was moving about by the early morning. Mrs. Weasley usually was shouting at the twins already, handling a million other things at once. But she heard nothing.

"Hello?" she called out, too, wondering if, perhaps, they just didn't recognize Heather's voice in the setting.

The two looked at each other when they got no answer, dropped their trunks, and moved into the house. Meril was beginning to feel a little sick with worry. Did something happen, or were they just out? Maybe they just hadn't gotten downstairs yet.

However, all worry slipped away when, up a flight of stairs or two, Meril saw Mrs. Weasley in an argument with the twins. They carried on for a few minutes, Heather and Meril watching, waiting with two completely different reactions. Heather stood frozen, awkward about stumbling upon the scene. Meril, however, had to suppress the giggle she felt bubbling in her throat. Those boys were always getting in trouble.

Just as Meril's strength was wavering, it stopped and she felt eyes on her. The twins had noticed them. Meril and Heather both waved—Meril confident and friendly, Heather cautious.

Fred and George took the steps two at a time, each grinning in their annual 'F' and 'G' sweaters.

"Ah, ladies!" Fred exclaimed, coming to a stop on the stairs and spreading his arms wide as he looked the two girls over appraisingly. He winked at them, smirking.

George stepped forward then, cutting Fred from the girls' view and spread his arms even wider than his twin as he finished the greeting.

"Welcome to the Burrow!"

* * *

**a/n** okay, so, I don't know why I took so long to get this one out. I finished writing it weeks ago. But anyway, it is out now, and I hope you enjoyed. It was pretty fun to write. Not my favorite chapter, but yeah. Oh, and just because it isn't my FAVORITE chapter doesn't mean that I think it isn't GOOD. Or that I think it shouldn't be posted, as one reviewer thought. I just say that to let you know, in hopes that people don't get all nasty or whatever. To let my reviewers--the few that there are--know that I don't think everything I write is perfect, but it is part of my story nontheless.

Anyway, what I am trying to get at, though I think kind of failing, is that, well, I'm not perfect. The story isn't perfect. There is a slow, BUT NOT POINTLESS, beginning, but it gets better, as I was trying to get across in earlier chapters. And yeah, if you have anything to say about my comments on the chapter in your review, like I shouldn't end chapters with "oh I know, it's such a bad chapter, this chapter isn't very good..." BLAH BLAH BLAH, kindly leave it out. Because it is an author's note. You are supposed to review the STORY.

Anyway, thanks for reading :) I love feedback, if you have time. I don't like out-right MEAN reviews, but if you have HELPFUL critisism, I will gladly hear...see it :)

xoxox

* * *


	30. The Snog

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Twenty-Nine—  
**The Snog

* * *

That night, Meril had her third gift exchange of that holiday season. She, Heather, and all the Weasleys that were home gathered around the lopsided, shedding tree to give out what remained of the gifts. There weren't that many left to exchange, but even so, Meril felt the familiar flutter of excitement in her stomach.

She loved the suspense of a wrapped gift—the endless possibilities as to what it could hold. It wasn't so much what was inside that mattered to her—though, yes, she couldn't deny she loved a good gift—but that there was something to unwrap at all. That might have been why she always bought something for everyone. She loved the looks of surprise on their faces; their eagerness to see what was waiting for them inside.

As Meril very happily handed out her gifts to all of the Weasleys present—which would be all except for Ron, who had stayed at Hogwarts that Christmas—Heather sat, squirming on the couch where she sat squished between Fred and Percy. The thought to get something for everyone hadn't occurred to her, Meril could tell. Most likely, she had gotten gifts for Fred and George, and maybe a joint present for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley out of politeness.

Meril sat back down, cramming herself in between the twins. She reached across Fred's lap, giving Heather's knee a quick, reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry about it," she whispered. Heather gave her a startled look before nodding stiffly. Then, prying herself out from in between the two Weasleys, she collected her gifts from underneath the tree.

Watching her best friend, Meril suddenly felt bad about all the gifts she had given—one small thing for each of them and an extra something each for Fred and George. She could have at least told Heather. Should have given her some kind of warning so she wouldn't feel so stingy in comparison to Meril. But really, who would expect a gift from Heather? This was her first over-night stay at the Burrow. She had never even met Bill or Charlie before. She wasn't friends with Percy. She had only spoken to Ginny three or four times. The Weasleys weren't rude people. They would never expect someone they barely knew to give them a gift.

As Meril suspected, Heather's worries came to nothing. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley happily accepted their gift. Fred and George were extremely pleased with theirs. And the rest were not offended in the least; just waited patiently for their turn to give out gifts.

The gifts that Meril received from the Weasleys were simple. Decorative knick-knacks. Books. Typical pranking and trouble-making supplies. Much the same as she always got. There was nothing particularly special; no surprises as there had been on her birthday. But she loved them all just the same.

Meril glanced over at Heather. The blonde was smiling, playing with her hair as she eyed the assortment of chocolates that she had received from 'the Weasleys' (Mr. and Mrs. Weasley). Her presents from the twins—a new Wizarding Chess set and some comic sort of thing Meril hadn't really looked at—were sitting at her feet.

"Thank you again, everyone!" Meril exclaimed. As she moved the stand up, setting aside the two books Charlie had given her—a dragon book and a Quidditch book—Mrs. Weasley suddenly jumped to her feet.

"Oh, dear! I almost forgot! Please, dear, sit back down." Mrs. Weasley gently instructed as she rushed off to another room. Meril fell back into her seat, glancing over at Mr. Weasley for some sort of explanation. The balding man, however, was otherwise engaged. As Meril should have expected, he was preoccupied looking through the hodgepodge of Muggle items she had gotten him.

"What did she almost forget?" Meril whispered, turning towards George instead.

The redhead shrugged. "Dunno." He wriggled a little in his seat, holding onto his new ever bashing boomerang tightly. Meril reached out, grabbing the green shirt she had gotten him before it slipped off his knee. Meril felt his leg tense.

"Are you okay, George?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." He smiled down at Meril and she was instantly reassured by the way it flooded into his eyes.

"Okay, good…"

A moment later, Mrs. Weasley returned with two lumpy parcels in hand. Her smile was wide as she handed the first to Meril. The brunette was suddenly struck with how similar George and Mrs. Weasley looked. She had never thought either of the twins looked particularly like their mother, but when she saw their smiles overlapping like that, she was shocked. It was identical—big and warm, washing over all of their features, lighting up the eyes.

"Open it," Mrs. Weasley urged. Meril blinked a few times in rapid succession, pulling herself out of her thoughts. She smiled up at the middle-aged woman, her fingers eagerly ripping through the paper. She could hear Heather doing the same.

Inside the package was a neatly folded sweater. Meril felt a huge smile spreading across her face. She looked up at Mrs. Weasley, unable to speak.

"Are you going to actually open it or not?" George asked, staring blankly at her.

"Of course! It's just…" Meril looked back up at Mrs. Weasley. "I can't believe I got a Weasley sweater. Thank you so much."

Mrs. Weasley smiled warmly again. "Look at it," she urged.

Meril unfolded the sweater. It was thick and white with a round collar, like all of the sweaters Mrs. Weasley made. But it was softer than most of the others. She rubbed it against her face and felt herself falling in love.

_So…soft!_ she thought, continuing to rub the sleeve on her face.

Fred glanced over at her. "George…what is she doing? She's acting like a cat."

"I have no idea," George responded, shaking his head as he reached out, pulling the sleeve away from Meril's face. "Meril, I know it's--" He paused, staring down at the sleeve. "Merlin's beard, that is the softest sweater I have ever felt!" He brought it up to his face, rubbing it against his cheek.

"Isn't it?!" Meril exclaimed. She grabbed the other sleeve, rubbing it against her cheek again, ignoring all of the odd looks she and George were receiving from the rest of his family.

"You two…" Fred began.

"Hey! Don't judge until you feel!" Meril snapped, interrupting him. She grabbed his hand, extending it until his fingers could brush against the sweater. His hazel eyes widened in surprise.

"Mum, why are our sweaters never that soft?" he complained, getting only silence in response.

It was then that Meril caught the blue. It was on the cuff of each sleeve, completely encircling it. At first glance, it looked to her as if it was just a strip of blue. However, when she actually looked, she saw that it was a bunch of 'M's, making a delicate zig-zag sort of pattern.

"Mrs. Weasley!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet and throwing her arms around the red-headed woman's neck. "Thank you so much! I love it!"

Once again, the woman smiled. "You're welcome, sweetie. I'm just glad you like it."

George tugged on Meril's sleeve, pulling her attention back to him. She excused herself from Mrs. Weasley and fell back into the spot beside him. "What?"

"Look. When you hold it this way, it's a 'W.' That way, you'll never forget who gave it to you. It's like it says…Meril Weasley."

Meril's cheeks turned a vibrant shade of pink at these words. She liked the sound of that name. But she didn't tell him that. Instead, she just nodded, holding the sweater close to her.

"I don't think I could forget."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The house was completely dark when Meril and Heather crept up the stairs later that night. They had spent hours hanging out in the twins' room, and this was their punishment—sneaking up countless steep flights of stairs to the top floor, in the dark, without waking anyone up. This, of course, did not go so smoothly.

"Heather, stop breathing so loudly."

"Maybe when you stop tripping over everything, I won't have to!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Let's just say I don't think we'd both still be on our feet if I wasn't."

"Huh?"

"You know it's the only reason you can tell where I am."

"That's not true!"

"Okay, then let's give it a go."

A moment later, Heather brought her breathing to a normal volume. Barely a second later, there was a crash as Meril tripped, jerked forward, and collided with Heather who, in turn, was hurtled into the next staircase. There was a groan as Heather stood, rubbing her hip.

"What did I tell you?"

"Fine, fine. Have it your way…."

Heather had taken only one heavy breath when Meril let out a big sigh. "Okay, yeah, no. That's just annoying. I am surprised you haven't woken anyone up yet. Just…grab my hand."

"I'm surprised _you_ haven't woken anyone up yet with all your tripping and going on so."

"Heather."

"Fine, fine."

The blonde reached forward blindly, swinging her arm until she felt Meril's hand clamp around her wrist. Meril led Heather the rest of the way up the stairs to Ron's bedroom in silence, tripping only once more on a loose floorboard.

The first thing Meril noticed about Ron's room was the walls. They were an extremely bright shade of orange. Plastered all about them were posters for the Chudley Cannons.

"Merlin's beard, I'm blinded!" Heather exclaimed, dropping her things on the ground as she looked around the room. "Do you feel like we just walked into a cantaloupe, too, or is that just me?"

Meril threw her stuff down on the nearest bed and glanced over at her best friend, eyebrow cocked. "No, Heath, that's just you…"

"Ah, well, it was worth asking."

"Are you okay? You're acting…well, you're acting like me."

"Yeah, I'm great!" Heather exclaimed. "I needed this. A break from school, hanging with my best friend and the funniest guys in school…Ah, it's just nice."

"What did you need a break from?"

"Classes. Teachers said fifth year would be hard, but I wasn't expecting this."

"Classes?" Meril guffawed.

"Yes! Did you think Ancient Runes was supposed to be _easy_?"

"No. I was talking more about Muggle Studies…" Meril twirled her finger in a circle, indicating for Heather to turn around so that she could change into her night shirt. The blonde quickly obliged.

"Hey, don't mock. It can actually be really…riveting and…difficult," Heather said defensively. Her eye twitched and she was having trouble not smiling.

Meril laughed. "Right, right. Of course. Why are you taking that class again?"

A grin slid across Heather's face but she quickly pushed it away, swallowing her laughter. It was hard to take Muggle Studies seriously. It was second only to History of Magic in boringness.

"I don't know. My mom's Muggle-born, as you know, so I guess I just thought it would be nice to know more about where she was coming from. And it could be useful when I'm older…"

Meril nodded. She couldn't deny that. It was important that wizards and witches should be able to blend in in the Muggle world, but, from what Heather told her, the class was pretty inaccurate in many fields. And with more and more people growing up around Muggles, it was growing less necessary.

"Can I look yet?"

"Yeah," Meril said, sitting down on her bed as she undid her braids.

"Anyway, being here is a great stress releaser. I think it's just being on vacation, because even the yelling isn't bothering me here. Usually bickering and drama stresses me out, but here…I feel so mellow."

Meril looked over at her friend who lay spread out on her bed, a relaxed smile on her face and couldn't help giggling. "Yes, I see that…So what drama are you talking about anyway?"

"Oh, mainly just stuff with Ashley and Rome."

Meril stared blankly at Heather. "Who?"

"My two friends whose names you always forget?" Heather sighed.

"Oh, yeah! Yeah, them. They have drama?"

"Yeah! So, you know how they went out in like…third year? Oh, right…Well, they went out almost all of third year, but over the summer they broke up. Things were awkward for a bit, but they got over it and they are still great friends. Well, Ashley's _new_ boyfriend, Jesse Fujimaki, is really wary about that. He doesn't like that Ashley and Rome are still friends. Plus they are always arguing. It's very stressful."

"Is there any other drama going on? Say, with you and Cedric? You guys okay?"

Heather sat up very quickly and stared at Meril. "Yeah, of course we are! Why?"

"Oh, I was just wondering. Making conversation…Girl talk?"

Heather laughed. "Right, of course. No, me and Cedric are great." A dreamy look came over her face for a moment before she shook her head, snapping back to attention. "Speaking of relationships though…you figure anything out yet?"

Meril cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"About our conversation from the train. Remember? One lock, two keys…Anything…_click_ yet? You and George seemed awfully cozy tonight."

Meril's whole body got hot, her face bright. "No, I haven't figured anything out yet…it's all still just one big mess," she murmured, unconsciously twisting George's ring around her finger

Heather watched her closely for a minute before shrugging. "Okay. Just checking." Then, laying back down on her bed, she stretched her arms out over her head, yawning widely. "Well, I have just right exhausted myself. I'm off to bed, then."

Heather slowly lifted herself up and went over to her trunk, pulling out a neatly folded nightgown from the top. Meril moved towards the mirror, grinning into it and inspecting her teeth.

"Eep! Are you sure you brushed those?"

Meril gave a start. Instinctively, she whipped her head around and looked over at Heather, but the blonde was silent, pulling her pajamas over the top of her head. Slowly, she turned back towards the mirror. Her reflection stared back at her, but it did not wear the same expression as Meril did. Instead, it seemed rather revolted, a grimace on its face.

"You should really think of checking on that. You have food right…here." The relfection lifted its hand and picked between the two front teeth, then started to point at different spots in the mouth. Quickly, Meril tightened her lips shut so as to stop the ridicule, but the reflection would not be satisfied.

"You might want to do something about your hair, too. It's so…boring. And those bags under your eyes…Really, do you ever sleep? It's really unattractive."

"I'm going to go brush my teeth," Meril said suddenly, turning her back on the mirror. It seemed too much like something her aunt or cousin would give her. In fact, it was like something one of them _had_ given her for her birthday, which she had just passed along to Heather.

"Hm? Oh, okay," Heather yawned. She waved at Meril, slipping underneath the covers and resting her head on the pillow. Meril pulled a pair of slippers from her trunk, hoping it would make her descent a little quieter than her ascent had been.

Meril silently went back down the stairs, keeping her fingers on the wall to keep herself from straying. She really should have lightened a candle or something before going back down. It really was dark. Alone, Meril felt even more prone to tripping than she had when traveling them with Heather.

As she was thinking this, the toe of her too-big slippers caught on a loose floorboard and she went lurching forward, crashing into a wall with a wince. From the other side of the wall there was a disgruntled noise which startled Meril. She hadn't thought she was by anyone's bedroom…Thinking this, she realized it must have been Bill or Charlie's room. She had never known where they slept, so it made sense…

"Sorry," she whispered into the door. There was another sort of grunt for a reply and then Meril was on her way.

Once she finally reached the bathroom, she securely closed the door and flicked on the light. Her teeth weren't any worse than Meril had thought they were. Her reflection had exaggerated immensely in its criticisms. Sure, she had eaten some popcorn with the twins after already brushing her teeth, so it wasn't the prettiest sight, but it wasn't desperate, as the reflection had made it seem. And she actually thought her hair looked…good. It looked tousled, tumbling down her shoulders in mild waves. The only thing Meril felt her reflection upstairs had gotten spot-on was her eyes. She looked more exhausted than she felt, purple rings underneath her sharp blue eyes.

"I need sleep," she murmured, picking her toothbrush up of the counter. She distractedly squirted some paste onto it, ran it under the water, and re-brushed her teeth until they were minty fresh, not a single piece of popcorn stuck in between her teeth.

Meril splashed cold water onto her face a few times, blinking rapidly. She grinned into the mirror, running her tongue along the backs of her slightly crooked teeth. But she still looked entirely too worn out.

"Oh, bollocks," she muttered, running a hand through her hair. "Forget it." She simultaneously turned the doorknob and flicked the switch off, immersing herself back into total darkness.

Her eyes had grown accustomed to the light, though, and it, once again, became exceedingly more difficult to get back up to Ron's bedroom in one piece.

After tripping over her own feet for the third time, a door creaked open. Short, lumbering footsteps fell on the hardwood floors. Meril scrambled to her feet and looked up, finding herself staring at a very disoriented looking Fred. His red hair was already sticking up on its ends, although he could barely have already been asleep for forty-five minutes. His shirt was improperly buttoned, the collar sticking up.

"Meril?" he grunted, wiping his eyes with a fist. "Wha' are you doin'?" he asked, his words all running together.

"I was brushing my teeth," she answered meekly. Fred took a few steps forward, looking down at her. He was standing so close, his head bent so far down, his forehead was almost touching the top of her head.

He was silent for a moment, undoubtedly trying to string a few words together in his barely-conscious state. "I wasn't aware," he finally managed to say, slurred as it was, "that this required so much…" he paused. He lifted his head slightly, focusing his eyes on a spot on the opposite wall. His eyebrows pulled together tightly in thought. "Noise," he finished simply, unable to think of a more eloquent word.

"Sorry," Meril said sheepishly. "It's just…really hard to see where I'm going and what's there. How do you do it."

"Years of experience!" Fred answered, holding up his index finger in a scholarly sort of way. "And not having to go up as many staircases as you," he added as an after-thought. A grin spread across his face, so contagious Meril couldn't help grinning back.

"Yes…well, I'm sorry I woke you," Meril said after a moment, tearing her eyes away from him. "I hope I didn't wake George, too?"

"Nah. He's still sleeping like a baby. Having a good dream, too, by the sounds of it." He grinned wickedly back at the door.

"Oh, well…That's good. Anyway, I better be getting back up to bed. I'm exhausted."

"Yeah, I could tell…" Fred motioned towards her eyes and Meril felt herself scowling. Was it really that noticeable. "Do you want me to walk you back up to Ron's room?"

"Oh. No, it's okay! You look so tired, too. And it's such a long and treacherous path…"

Fred let out a warm laugh, looking down at Meril with sparkling eyes. "It's really no trouble. Maybe I'd even be able to keep you up on your feet." A playful smirk moved onto his lips, his eyebrow lifting up suggestively.

Meril squirmed a little. She felt her skin getting warm again, the blood rushing to her face. She hated it. "Well, okay," she eventually said, caving. Looking up at the redhead, she found a broad smile had once again taken over his face.

"Good. Now maybe we could keep the rest of my family asleep." He shuddered, the unpleasant thought of waking his mother undoubtedly on his mind. Then a wistful sigh escaped him. "Oh, if only Percy's room was on the way…"

Meril giggled. "Oh, yes…If only."

Fred ended up basically carrying Meril up the stairs when a strong and sudden wave of exhaustion washed over her, nearly knocking her out. She had already been more than tired; all of her late nights were finally catching up with her.

When they reached the stop where Meril had tripped on her way down, she gripped tightly onto Fred's arm and pulled him back. "Who's in there?" she asked in a whisper, pointing at the door.

Fred squinted at the door, his eyebrows knitting together. "Yeah, that's Charlie in there," he said, straightening out his face. "Why?"

"Oh, I think I may have disturbed him on accident earlier, when I tripped on my way down…"

Fred shook his head. "Okay, come on Mer. Let's go." He was almost completely awake now; had been almost ever since he had started talking to Meril outside of his door. "Let's get you up to bed." He gently grabbed onto her elbow.

The brunette smiled up at him before collapsing into is side. Fred staggered to the side a little before his feet got a firm grip on the floor. He lifted Meril up into his arms and carried her the rest of the way up to Ron's bedroom. The whole time, Meril, barely awake, was smiling up at him, barely aware of her full-body blush.

Fred peered inside of Ron's bedroom when they finally reached the top. The light was still on, but Heather was fast asleep, her blonde hair fanned across her pillow, a few strands spread over her face.

"Okay, Mer. I don't want to wake Heather. Can you get yourself to bed okay?"

"Yeah, of course!" Meril exclaimed. She was still smiling like an idiot.

"Right, no…I remember what Lee told me about last time he found you like this. I am just going to put you right into bed and--"

"No!" Meril protested, pulling her arms away from his neck. "No, I'm good! I still have some things I need to take care of! I need to brush my hair and I need to…" She paused, scrunching her eyebrows thoughtfully. "I have to…"

Fred sighed, stepping through the doorway and taking long strides over to the bed. He sat Meril down on it, propping her up on her pillows, and stepped over to the dresser. Meril watched him as he searched for her hairbrush—the one with the blue handle, she had told him—keeping his head down so as not to attract the unwanted attention of the impudent mirror.

"Is this it?" he asked, holding up a black brush with a blue handle.

Meril nodded. "That's the one."

"Okay, good. Now…sit still. I've never really done this before." Fred positioned himself behind Meril on the bed. Cautiously, he started to pull the brush through her long brown hair, wincing every time it met resistence, though Meril barely seemed to notice. She just sat there humming to herself as she twisted her rings around her fingers.

After a couple of minutes, Meril felt weight be lifted off of the bed. Fred walked around back to the dresser, keeping his head ducked, and placed the brush back there.

"Done," he declared. "Do you need to see?"

"No, I trust you," Meril replied, smiling toothlessly up at him. Then she reached out her hand, beckoning him to move in closer. Curious, he did so. Meril reached forward, touching her hand to his cheek. She was too tired to notice the way his skin turned hot under her touch, or even how her own face started to burn. "Thank you, Fred."

"No problem," he said, pulling away abruptly. "Now, go to sleep. Whatever else you need to do can wait. You just…you need to sleep."

"Aye, aye, Captain!" Meril exclaimed, starting to giggle uncontrollably. Fred just shook his head and walked out, flipping the light switch off as he went. Meril still sat up, becoming slowly aware that her skin was still roasting. From the light of the moon shining in from outside the window, Meril caught her reflection in the window.

"My, God! Look at you all red! That boy really woos you, huh? You certainly look wooed!"

Meril's face burned hotter. She turned away from the mirror, twisting her tings desperately as she got herself settled under her blankets. Despite her obvious fatigue, Meril lay awake with her eyes wide open for a minute, twisting her rings, before shooting up and stumbling towards her trunk. She pulled out her stuffed lion from underneath a few layers of clothing and, almost instantaneously, the anxious feeling in her stomach that compelled her to twist those rings. She crawled back into bed, hugging the stuffed lion from Fred close to her.

Her eyelids began to droop, falling heavily over her eyes. Her breaths began more rhythmic, slow and calm. As sleep settled over her like a warm, familiar blanket, the bedroom door, not closed all the way, creaked open. The soft footsteps of Pistachio were like a lullaby as the kitten gently pranced across the floor.

The white ball of fluff leapt onto the bed and kneaded the pillow with her little paws before settling by Meril's face. It took only a moment after that for their breaths to fall into sync and the two—kitten and owner—were asleep.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The next day, it was just the four of them—Meril, Heather, and the twins—having a great time around the house. They played out in the snow, walked around Ottery St. Catchpole for a little bit, and then returned to the Burrow for dinner and board games.

The morning after that, however, the girls walked down into the kitchen to help with breakfast only to find Lee Jordan sitting at the table, talking to Mrs. Weasley as he scarfed down breakfast.

"Lee!" Meril exclaimed, running forward into his outstretched arms. "Why didn't you tell us you were coming?"

"Didn't even know until a few days ago. Fred and George didn't tell you I take it?"

"The buggers," Meril scowled. "Ah, well, at least it is one of their more pleasant surprises."

Lee grinned then turned towards Heather. "Hey, Heath."

"You would come the day I'm leaving," she pouted, pulling him into a warm embrace.

"You're leaving today?"

"Yup. My mum wants me home for New Years. But I am coming back…just not until the fifth. How long are you staying?"

"The rest of break."

"Okay, good. I'll actually get to hang out with you."

Meril slid into the seat across from Lee and stretched across the table, stealing a piece of his toast.

"So, you got my gift, right?" she asked, swallowing down the toast with a glass of milk Heather had just poured for her.

"Yes, I did," Lee clarified as he tore the crust off of his other piece of toast. "Thank you very much for them. I was running low on Bertie Bott's and the comics are bloody hilarious. Oh, how did you know which Chocolate Frog cards I was missing?"

Meril shrugged, taking another bite of toast. "Lucky guess? I don't know. I never reveal my sources."

Lee just shook his head, dreadlocks gently whipping his dark brown face. He stood, holding his plate in one hand, glass in the other, and walked over to the sink.

"Thanks for breakfast Mrs. W! It was great."

Mrs. Weasley turned and smiled at Lee. "Of course, dearie. Do you want me to get Fred and George for you?"

"No, that's alright. I'll get them myself."

He walked off at a slow, loping gait to the twins' room. Meril watched him for a moment before turning back to Mrs. Weasley.

"Good morning, Mrs. Weasley!" she said. "Do you need any help with anything?"

"No, not quite yet. Thank you though, dear. Why don't you have some breakfast? I am sure that toast did nothing for you." She smiled at Meril as she pointed her wand at a plate filled with food; the plate gently slid across the table, stopping where Meril had been sitting a moment before. "Anything to drink?"

"No, thank you. I have milk."

"What about you, Heather dear?" She sent another plate flying onto the table.

"I have milk, too. Thank you very much."

"Of course."

The Weasley clan slowly made their descent down the stairs to have breakfast. Being a Thursday, Mr. Weasley was already at work, so Percy was the first down, though later than usual. Following him was Bill, Charlie coming shortly thereafter. Fred and George came bounding down the stairs with Lee some ten minutes later, laughing loudly. Ginny was the last down, only appearing after her mother had shouted up to her loudly several times.

Breakfast was an affair at the Weasley house. First of all, though there were enough seats at the table, finding one was always like some sort of life-threatening journey. Meril was very glad to already have one. It didn't matter that they all came down at different times. For some reason, no one went to sit down until Ginny came down the stairs. It wasn't out of politeness, Meril didn't think—just that none of them had really realized why it was that they had come down. Once they were all seated, limbs were going every which way as the Weasleys piled food onto their plates. Everyone was talking at once, but no one seemed to be having the same conversation. Meril couldn't imagine how anyone could talk articulately—it was so early in the morning and Meril had gotten so little sleep, she was a little surprised she could even form sentences. But the Weasleys had been like this for all three of the breakfasts Meril had had with them so far that year.

When breakfast ended, it was nine o'clock. Most of the Weasleys, after putting their dishes in the sink and giving their mother a kiss on the cheek, walked off. Fred and George remained at the table, however, along with Lee, Heather, and Meril. Heather was staring at the clock, frowning.

"It's not fair," she sighed as she moved away from the table. Dropping her dishes carefully in the sink, she turned to Mrs. Weasley. "Thank you so much for breakfast! It was delicious."

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley. It really was great! I'm stuffed," Meril added, stacking her dishes on top of Heather's.

Mrs. Weasley just gave a tired smile in response, patting Meril affectionately on the head as she passed by. "Yes, of course, dears."

The two walked out of the kitchen and made the long trek up to Ron's room, the three boys following closely behind.

"I mean, okay, I get why my parents want me home for New Years. But why do I have to leave at ten o'clock? And why don't I get to come back until the fifth? Does that seem fair to any of you?" She turned around, staring at Fred, George, and Lee individually.

They all shook their heads. Satisfied, Heather turned back around and continued up the staircase, silently stewing over her pending departure. The plans Fred, George, and Lee were joking about having were not helping any.

"Guys," Meril said warningly. She looked over her shoulder at them, staring at each of them piercingly.

"Oh, come on, Heath!" Fred said, playfully punching Heather's arms. "You know we're joking. We wouldn't do any of the really fun stuff without you."

Heather looked back at him blankly, silent.

"Okay, okay. Maybe we would. But we would miss you while we were doing it," Fred admitted, grinning sweetly at her.

In response to this, Heather simply stuck out her tongue and continued up the stairs. Meril paused with the boys, shaking her head.

"You didn't have to _tell_ her we'd do stuff without her, you know. She'd have just assumed, but now she _knows_ and I feel bad. No one likes to _know_ that they are being left out."

"Does this make you feel better?" George asked; locking his arms around Meril, he lifted her into the air and spun around in circles.

"George!" Meril laughed. "George, put me down!"

George spun her around a few more times before lifting her higher into the air, grinning at her, and finally setting her down. Still giggling, Meril smoothed down her hair and shook her head.

"You really shouldn't feel bad, though," Fred said suddenly. Meril immediately closed her mouth, her opportunity to speak in response to being spun gone. "Life goes on. She knows that; she will be doing stuff without us. And she'll be back on the fifth. Imagine all of the pranks we could plan for her by then!" Fred's face lit up and he looked up at the ceiling wistfully. George quickly followed suit, then Lee, too.

"Oh," Meril said. She liked the idea of that. She hadn't pulled a good prank on Heather in years. She hadn't even seen a good one done to her in years. The blonde was long overdue.

"Right!" Fred exclaimed, snapping out of his reverie with a shake of the head. He pat Meril on the shoulder, nudging her forward somewhat. "Well, you should be off joining her. She'll be needing help, no doubt. And you'll be wanting to get dressed."

"In something warm, I'd suggest," George added.

"Yes, it's rather chilly outside," Lee noted helpfully.

"Is it now?" Meril inquired, seemingly aghast. "My, I never would have suspected! Just look outside!" As instructed, the boys all peered out the window there at the end of the hall. The ground was layered in thick snow. The sky was a dreary gray; snow still fell heavily from the sky in big clumps. "I was really looking forward to a swim in the pond. I guess that will just have to wait though, eh?"

"Yeah, I suppose you will," George responded. He bit his lip and shook his head. "Shame. Who would have guessed it?"

"Not I, certainly," Fred interjected.

"Nor I," Lee declared.

"This is awful news! Dreadful, really…" Meril hung her head for a brief moment in silence. Then, barely five seconds later, her head shot back up and, with a wide grin on her face, she rubbed her hands together. "Well, off I go now! Got to go get dressed and all that. See you in…" Meril glanced down at her watch, checking the time. Apparently it was three o'clock p.m. on September 10.

She really needed to get her watch fixed.

"Right!" Meril exclaimed. "Well, I'll just be off then. See you in a few!"

With a short wave, Meril was back sprinting up the stairs. By the time she reached Ron's bedroom on the top floor, her calves felt as if they were on fire and her thighs were starting to ache. Heather was already putting her things away into her chest, a forlorn look on her face.

"Are you sure you don't want to come back with me, Meril? I know you'd be more than welcome. My family _adores_ you."

"Sorry, Heath. I am staying here. Besides, I know I don't have anything to wear that would be appropriate for your parents' party. Trust me, I remember what they are like."

And she did; quite clearly. Itwasn't a casual event. Everyone got dressed up in their best semi-formal attire. The girls did their hair; the men shaved. Last time Meril had gone, she'd been twelve and had hardly been able to stand it. She had promised herself then, as she was forced into one of the new events—a contest for best preteen dress—that she would never expose herself to it again.

"It's gotten a lot better since last time," Heather said, as if reading Meril's thoughts. "The events are less pageant-y. People vote, but there is no judging. And you aren't forced to participate; you sign up. And there are more…fun things. Like, for example, my parents found a psychic! One that doesn't seem like a total fraud. And…I don't know. I'm never really part of the planning process, but, if it's anything like last year, it'll be fun."

"I'm sure it will be. I just…I don't have anything to wear."

"Well you could wear something of m--" Heather stopped mid-suggestion and looked down at herself. Then she looked over at Meril. The two were completely different shapes. While Meril was incredibly slight—short, narrow, skinny, and with virtually no chest to speak of—Heather was more curved. She was of a very average body size—normal height and shoulder-width, average weight—but noticeably more filled out than Meril and with a more defined waist. "Never mind."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Heath. I guess what I was trying to say without having to actually saying it is…well, I don't want to go. I want to stay here. It's nothing against you, your family, or the part—okay, so it's kind of against the party. I love you guys though. You understand that, right?"

"Yeah, of course! How could I not? I want to stay here; it's completely understandable that you would. Especially since…well…" A sly smile slid over Heather's pretty face and she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Meril stared at her blankly for a minute before her face burned crimson. Fred and George. Of course that was what she was alluding to.

"Are you going to try to figure that out some while I'm gone?"

Meril shrugged. "I guess I could. I really don't know how to do that though…"

"You'll figure it out. I know you will." Heather nodded, so sure of herself as she closed and locked the lid to her trunk. Her clothes were laid out on the bed she had been sleeping on. "Turn?"

The two faced their opposite corners and quickly got dressed. Meril pulled on a simple white-shirt before slipping her Weasley sweater over her head. She rubbed her wrist against her face. It felt even softer than it had the other night, if that was even possible. It was a loose fitting sweater, hanging rather limply over her. The sleeves were a little long, covering a third of her thumb. The bottom of the sweater was tighter than the rest of the sweater and held onto her hips so that the rest of the sweater almost bloused over it. Even with all of these things that others might have found big flaws, Meril found it to be the most comfortable sweater she had ever owned.

Meril turned around as she looped a belt through her jeans. Heather was already in her winter cloak, fastening the silver buttons with surprising ease. Glancing at the clock that hung on the wall, she noticed it was already a quarter to ten. Meril grabbed a pair of silver hoops from the dresser and quickly put them on as she searched for her eyeliner.

"Here you go."

Meril glanced up. Heather stood next to her, holding out a short stub of an eyeliner pencil and a stick of mascara. Meril smiled sheepishly at her friend, already ready to go in her lavender hat and matching scarf Mrs. Weasley had made for her, and hurriedly applied the makeup.

"Cloak," Heather said, holding Meril's big blue cloak out to her. "Gloves." She handed Meril her knitted gloves. "Scarf?"

"No, I'm fine without that. Thanks."

"Of course," Heather sighed. She looked over at her trunk, tracing the lettering on her hat. 'H.L.S' it read in pearly white thread. "You know, the only thing I'm looking forward to is seeing Cedric again. I haven't seen him since Christmas Eve. I miss him…" She sighed again, moving towards the window to watch the snow fall down. "Ah, well. I'll be back soon enough, right?"

"Yup," Meril answered. She grabbed onto Heather's trunk.

"I'm just being dramatic, I know. Making a big deal about leaving like a big baby."

"No, you're not. I did the same thing the first time I had to leave. Of course, I wasn't going to be coming back in five days, so…" Meril grinned at her best friend who just stuck her tongue out in response and grabbed onto the other side of her trunk.

"Okay. Well…let's go, I guess."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

It was frigid outside. There was no sun to speak of and the snow just kept coming down in big, juicy snowflakes. The wind wasn't strong, but it was present and chilled Meril to the bone. She pulled her hood up over her head as soon as she stepped outside, already feeling the cold setting in. Now, after standing outside for more than fifteen minutes, Meril couldn't feel her ears and her legs were so cold it was burning. Her nose, she knew, was bright red and her eyes were tearing up, leaving her almost blind.

Around a quarter past ten, a black car could be seen approaching in the distance. It's headlights shone through the snowfall, really the only heads up of its arrival. Meril watched its progression down the narrow road until it finally came to a stop where Meril was waiting with Heather, Fred, George, and Lee. It was a Ministry car.

Sighing, Heather got to her feet and grabbed one of the trunk's handles. Meril slowly stood, grabbing the other side, and together they lifted it into the trunk the driver had opened for them. The driver slammed the trunk down and walked around the car, opening up the door to the backseat. He stood, hand resting on the handle, waiting for Heather to get in so they could drive off.

"Thank you so much for having me," she said, moving towards Fred and George, hugging them both individually. "It was fun. Lee..." She turned toward their dreadlocked friend and gave him a big hug. "See you soon."

"You're coming back the fifth," Fred pointed out.

"I know I am. It's just…" Heather sighed and shook her head. "I'm dramatic. What can I say?" She shrugged and turned toward Meril. Wordlessly, she threw her arms around her best friend then slid into the car. The driver promptly closed the door and walked back over to the driver side and got in.

As the car drove off, Heather waved out the window. Meril, Fred, George, and Lee all waved back until the car had disappeared into the snowfall.

Meril let out a big sigh and turned towards the boys, rubbing her hands on her thighs. "What do we do now?"

George looked up at the sky. "Do you want to try playing Quidditch?"

"In this weather?" Meril looked doubtfully up at the sky. "We'd barely be able to see anything."

A broad grin spread across George's face. "That's the fun of it."

Meril laughed; she couldn't help it. He just looked so excited, and that familiar twinkle of mischief was lighting up his eyes. "Okay. We'll play Quidditch. If that's okay with everyone else…"

George, however, didn't wait to see if it was okay with the others. With seemingly no difficulty, he sprinted through the snow, Lee hot at his heels. Meril laughed and turned back towards the road and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I wanted to have a snowball fight."

Meril gave a start and turned around. She had suspected that Fred had joined George and Lee in their race to the backyard. But he still stood there, facing the house, a pout on his face and his arms crossed over his chest. He didn't seem to even be talking to Meril, just pouting.

Without giving him any form of response, Meril bent down and scooped up some snow—perfect for packing. She formed it into a ball and chucked it right at his ear.

Fred gasped and held his exposed ear. "Meril, you little bugger!" He bent down and scooped up some snow to retaliate, but Meril already had another ball formed. She ran backwards and threw it, hitting him in the arm. He didn't even blink, just threw his snowball, nailing Meril square in the forehead.

"Oh, it is on now!" Meril exclaimed, wiping the snow from her face.

From there it became a full-fledged war. The two were whipping out snow balls left and right. Meril was laughing so hard she could barely feel the cold anymore.

Meril had hidden herself behind a tree trunk, watching as Fred collected some snow, right out in the open. Meril scooped up a huge amount of snow, forming a gigantic snowball. She ran forward swiftly, timing it just right so that, when he stood and turned, she was right there, slamming the ball in his face.

Fred coughed and spluttered, blindly throwing his snowball, which barely grazed Meril's shoulder. He reached out and grabbed Meril by the wrist and started swinging her around.

Laughing, Meril struggled against him, trying to break free of his grip. As she should have known, though, he was too strong. She started to kick up some snow; it barely even reached his knee.

Finally, Meril brought herself in close enough to him that she could lean against his body. She started to shove, hoping to get him down in the snow. And it worked.

Fred did fall backwards into the snow.

The problem?

He was still holding onto her wrist, and he pulled her right down with him.

She landed with a _thump! _on his chest. Her face hovered above his; Meril noticed how nice his lips were, parted ever so slightly as he stared back at Meril. She felt her face flush red as she noticed this, her heart ramming violently against her rib cage.

Fred lifted his free hand slowly; Meril half-assumed that he was going to grab some more snow and sprinkle it onto her. However, he surprised her by reaching up and tucking some of Meril's hair that had fallen across her face behind her ear. Meril's face seemed to burn even hotter; she bit her lower lip, still staring at him.

He moved his hand to the back of her head, carefully guiding her face towards his. And then, out of nowhere, his lips were pressing curiously against hers. Meril's eyes widened; she felt as if they were going to pop straight out of her sockets. Her breathing felt constricted, but in a good way.

But, all too soon, Fred was pulling away.

"Wh-what was th-that f-for?" Meril stuttered. Her mind was spinning and she was having trouble forming words. All she could think of was Fred pressing his lips against hers. Fred _kissing_ her.

Fred's face grew scarlet. He dropped his hand to his side and looked away awkwardly, as though trying to figure the best way to stand up and walk away with his pride still in tact. When he looked back at her, his hazel eyes began searching Meril's face desperately. "I'm sorry. I…"

Meril shook her head, smiling. "What are you sorry for?" She had finally regained the power of speech.

Fred looked at her quizzically for a moment before a grin stretched across his face, realization at what Meril had just said dawning and lighting up his features. He placed his hand back at the nape of her neck and, with her help this time, brought her face closer to his. And when he kissed her that time, she kissed back.

Her lips trembled with every touch against his. Her stomach was in knots; her heart was beating fast enough to take her to the moon. It felt good. Nerve-racking, for sure, but she couldn't help smiling as she and Fred lay in the snow, kissing.

Fred's hand was gently positioned behind her ear, his thumb caressing her jaw. Her free hand moved to touch his face, but, as she was lifting it, she heard her name being called.

She pulled away reluctantly, listening carefully. Fred's ears also perked up, aware of the voice calling for them. Whoever it was didn't sound too far away.

"Meril?! Fred?! Where are you?" George called out. Meril could hear his feet crunching on the snow. He had gotten close quickly. She lay still on Fred for a moment, hesitant to get off, before something inside of her forcefully threw her into the snow, all uncertainty aside.

She couldn't have George finding her and Fred lip-locking in the snow. She had no clue if George any romantic feelings for her, and she didn't even know if anything was going to come out of the kisses, but she just couldn't bring herself to let George see. She cared about him too much. The idea of him seeing—of finding out like that—it made her feel sick to her stomach. And her instincts—the churning of her stomach—told her that it couldn't be good for George to find her with Fred like that—for him, but not for her either.

Meril stood up and brushed the snow off of her front, feeling all jittery. She could hear George getting closer. Out of the corner of her eye she could even hear him approaching. Quickly, she bent down to scoop up some snow, throwing it at Fred before she even got the chance to form it properly.

"Meril? What are you--"

Meril threw some more snow at him, shaking her head ever so slightly. Fred cocked an eyebrow at her and kicked some snow back at her.

"What are you two doing?" George asked. He stood right between them, hands on his hips and a baffled look on his face. "I thought we were going to go play Quidditch?"

"Yeah, sorry, George," Meril mumbled as she ducked her head. "Fred said he wanted a snowball fight, so I was just…giving him what he wanted. I think." She looked up at Fred meaningfully, her lips parting ever-so-slightly. Fred looked back at her and swallowed hard.

"Well, that was the lamest snowball fight I have ever seen, I have to say."

"Yeah, we just got…tired," Fred answered. He swallowed again, his eyes holding Meril's gaze.

George furrowed his brows and frowned, looking back and forth between the two suspiciously. "Are you two planning something?"

"No, no. We were just having a snowball fight. Come on. Let's go play Quidditch, eh?" Meril smiled softly and tugged on George's sleeve, her eyes not leaving Fred's.

"Are you sure?" George asked, referring, Meril assumed, to the Quidditch.

Meril shook her head, snapping away from Fred's gaze and looking up at George. She had trouble looking him in the eye, suddenly, so she concentrated on his ear. "Yes, I'm sure! I love Quidditch."

"Right…" George gave her a funny look but said nothing more. In fact, no one said anything more the entire walk to the backyard, which was a little disconcerting. Meril wasn't used to silence when it came to the twins, and when there was silence it was never uncomfortable as it was then.

Meril didn't know where to be. She couldn't stand in between them. She couldn't stand closer to Fred or closer to George. She couldn't be blatantly obvious that she was avoiding standing close to either. So she just sort of drifted along behind them, itching to get closer but afraid of what would happen.

Lee was waiting for them impatiently by all of the broomsticks—a mismatched assortment of old Cleansweeps and outdated brooms no longer made which the Weasleys had acquired over the years. Meril had left her new Nimbus back at school and was suddenly glad she had done so. She would feel self-conscious about it around them.

"Should we ask anyone else to join us?" Lee asked, glancing at George.

"No, not yet," George answered. He walked up beside Lee and started looking for his own broomstick. Fred soon joined in searching for his own broom, and Meril hesitantly stepped forward, looking to pick one that seemed manageable.

Unintentionally, she stuck close to Fred. But every time she so much as brushed against him, she flinched back and mumbled a quick apology. The same went for Fred. He was acting…abnormally careful around her. He was almost silent, and so was she. It was unnerving.

As Meril closed her hand around a broomstick, she looked up and Lee's face was right there. He was staring at her hard, his eyebrows drawn together. His dark brown eyes flickered across Meril's face, searching for something quite different than what Fred had been looking for just before.

Meril gave Lee an odd look before sidestepping Lee. She took a step towards the twins, both whom already had their brooms, ready to go, to ask if the broom she picked was okay.

"Oi, Meril!" There was a demanding tap on her arm.

Sighing, Meril turned towards the Lee. She said nothing, just raised her eyebrows expectantly.

Lee took this as his cue. "Did you snog my best mate?" he asked and promptly glanced at Fred, then back at Meril.

Meril's eyes bugged out of her head and she started to cough, choking on her own saliva. "No!" She sounded defensive even to her own ears, so she should have expected the suspicious look George gave her. However, she wasn't expecting to see the look Lee had on his face. He looked like he was holding down some laughter, but he also seemed curious.

"No need to get so defensive about it. I was only _joking_. You didn't think I was serious, did you?"

"No, of course not!" Meril spluttered, still struggling to swallow. She glanced quickly at Fred who stood, stone still and pale, beside George. "I was just going along with it."

"Right…" Lee shook his head, silently snickering, and turned away.

Meril urgently glanced at Fred, her eyes wild. He returned her look, obviously as worried about them finding out as she was.

"Hey, I have a great idea!" he suddenly exclaimed, stepping away from George and throwing his arms in the air. "Let's play Quidditch now, eh?!"

"Sounds good to me," Lee said, throwing a broom over his shoulder.

"Yeah! Me, too," Meril agreed. She marched forward, deciding to walk just behind Lee, and ignored the looks George was shooting her, afraid that, if she acknowledged them, his eyes would penetrate right through her.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

It didn't take long for the snow to become too much for them. The four traipsed back inside, shivering cold. Meril shed her cloak at the back door and hung it over the back of a chair. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and washed her hands, watching Mrs. Weasley as she bustled around the kitchen, making several dishes at once and looking quite harried. Meril assumed the food was all for the little New Years celebration the Weasleys were having.

"Hey, Mrs. Weasley. Would you like any help?" she offered.

Right then, she would take any excuse to get away from the boys. Between the tension there was with her and Fred, Lee's constant desire to reenact and then laugh at Meril's reaction, and George's mistrustful gaze, she was feeling a bit overwhelmed. And, well, she liked the kitchen and she food. It would be a nice break from the boys.

To Meril's relief, Mrs. Weasley accepted her offer of help. "Thank you so much, dearie," she said, smiling as she handed an apron to Meril. "**_Ginny!_**" she bellowed, moving towards the stairs. "**Ginevra Molly Weasley! Get down here _now_!**"

"I'm coming!" Meril heard Ginny weakly shout back. She didn't quite have the lung capacity of her mother yet.

Mrs. Weasley hovered by the stairs until Ginny's small figure joined her. The two redheads walked back into the kitchen, both looking a little bitter. Meril smiled at Ginny as she turned towards her mother.

"What do you want me to do?"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Clocks were up all around the house. Some were normal clocks, just ticking away the time, while others were count-down clocks, signaling the exact hours, minutes, and seconds until midnight.

The Weasleys all seemed in good spirits that night. Mr. Weasley had come home early from work to celebrate the coming of the New Year with his family. They were all wearing their new sweaters Mr. Weasley had made for them. Looking at them, Meril couldn't help noticing how…perfect it all seemed. They had their arguments, but they were happy. They were a real family. Meril felt an urgent desire to be a part of that; she had never had the chance to have a real family like that. Her dad had died too soon; for most of Meril's life it had just been her and her mother.

Meril almost jumped to her feet, accidentally startling Charlie, whom she had been sitting beside and half-listening to.

"Excuse me," she murmured, gently touching Charlie's shoulder. She weaved around all the bodies and furniture, stopping momentarily by Fred, George, and Lee. Her eyes passed fleetingly over Lee and lingered on George before landing o Fred. Instinctively, her hand shot up to her mouth. Her fingers on her lips, she could still feel the warmth of Fred's kiss. Her fingertips started to tickle so she pulled her hand away and bit down on her lower lip. Without uttering a word, she tore her eyes away from Fred, shaking her head as she rushed off to the kitchen.

She needed something to keep her hands busy. Unfortunately, most everything that could be done to the food was already done. Nearly everyone had finished eating, anyway. The only thing which hadn't been touched yet was the dessert, and that was only because it wasn't coming out until midnight.

Meril sighed and opened up the oven. There was pie warming inside; it smelt good. In the refrigerator there were bite-sized cheesecakes. Cookies were cooling on the counter. They really were not wanting for more dessert. Meril, however, was in desperate need of something to do. She began rummaging through the pantry, sure that there was _something_ easy to make which could also be done in an hour.

To her disappointment, there wasn't. Mrs. Weasley was not one to make things by convenience; she made things from scratch. So clearly, baking was out for Meril. She stood and turned to go search the refrigerator for some fruit, but, to her surprise, she found Fred standing there.

"Oh…hi."

"You sound disappointed that I'm here," Fred noticed, leaning in close to her.

"No, I'm not." Meril sighed and squeezed in between him and the wall. Fred watched her as she pulled open the refrigerator and searched through it. He sighed and stepped closer to her.

"Are you okay?"

Meril whirled around and stared up at him with wide eyes. She felt her face relaxing and her lips part as she took in his concerned face. "I…" She cleared her throat, closed her eyes, and shook her head. When her eyes were opened again her face was tensed and she whispered, "I'm fine. I'm just…confused. I know sometimes kisses mean nothing, but…well, Fred, you are one of my best friends and it _does_ mean something. And I really think…You need to explain. I mean…we need to talk about what happened."

"Of course," Fred answered, oddly compliant. Meril hadn't expected him to be so willing. From her—minimal—past experience and from what Heather and others had told her, boys were not so eager to talk about actions or feelings. But, of course, Fred was no exactly like other boys. "What did you want to know, exactly?"

"Not now."

"Okay, then when?"

"I don't know. When we can have some privacy."

"Alright. Well…just let me know when."

And with that, he walked off. Meril got the feeling that he was a little put-off by her unwillingness to talk there. Maybe he wasn't as compliant as she had thought he was being; though she had sensed a hint of annoyance when she had told him it would have to be later.

Meril sighed, running a hand through her messy hair. Finding the right key was proving even harder than she had thought.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ten minutes to midnight. Meril was feeling antsy. Fred kept looking over at her, trying to speak with his eyes. Lee was moping about the fact that Angelina wasn't there for him to kiss at midnight.

"Anyone have any New Years resolutions?" Meril asked, looking around the room. She and her mother always made some, though they barely ever kept them, even if they were easy.

George glanced over at Meril, opened his mouth, closed it, and shook his head. He locked his eyes on the carpet as he said, "No; nothing."

"What about you, Lee?"

"Of course."

"Does it have to do with Angelina?"

"N—Yes."

"Then I really don't think I want to know. Fred?" She turned to him, her eyes wide. He looked back at her calmly and shook his head.

"I just take things as they come."

"Oh. Of course." Meril looked towards the rest of the Weasleys, but none of them had even heard the question. Of course. Just when she needed a distraction. She sighed and rested her head on George's shoulder.

Five minutes to midnight.

Suddenly, Meril wasn't really feeling like celebrations. She lifted her head and stood up. "I think I am going to go to bed. I'm tired."

"But it isn't even midnight yet!" Lee protested, aghast.

"I know. Happy New Years." She turned towards everyone else and cleared her throat. "Happy New Years everyone! I am going to bed." She waved at them all and took off. As soon as she had gone up one set of stairs she started to run, taking the stairs two at a time.

"Meril. Stop."

Meril dropped her foot and turned.

Fred.

Of course.

It was the second time in less than an hour that he had snuck up on her.

"What?"

"I don't think we should put off talking about it."

"Why not?"

"I just don't. It was your idea to talk about it in the first place, anyway. Why are you trying to put it off. Are you afraid of what I'll say or something? Or are you afraid of what you'll say to me?"

"No. I…"

"Why don't you go first?"

"Fine." Meril straightened her back and took a deep breath. She tried looking at Fred, but he was being so attentive she got freaked out and ended up staring at the floor. "I haven't had much experience in this field. And, as I mentioned before, I am confused. Not only about my feelings but about yours. I never…I never got the feeling that you cared that way about me. But then…well, then this afternoon happened. And I need to know…what were you thinking?"

"I've been confused, too." He stepped closed to Meril. "I wasn't sure how I felt about you. For a long time, you were just Meril—Queenie. One of my best friends. And then, suddenly, when you came back…" He laughed to himself and shook his head. "Something inside of me seemed to change, but I wasn't sure what it was. Not until this afternoon. Suddenly, it all seemed to click into place. And I needed to take advantage of the time I had; I wasn't sure if something was going to change again."

"Is this supposed to be making me feel better?"

"Meril."

"Fred. Come on. What are you trying to say? I care about you. And that kiss…it actually _meant_ something to me. If it didn't mean anything to you…well then, just leave me alone. Because I need to figure things out for myself, and if you were just…taking advantage of an opportunity and not actually _feeling_ something, then I am not wasting my time. So, just tell me. Did it mean something?"

"Meril." Fred put his finger under her chin and lifted her face up to his. He was looking awfully relaxed, his eyes dancing as he looked down at her. Downstairs, Meril could hear the countdown.

10.

9.

8.

7.

The corners of Fred's lips lifted.

6.

5.

Meril felt her lips part again; her throat was constricting.

4.

3.

2.

Fred's nose touched Meril's; she could taste his breath—peppermint.

1.

His face slipped, his lips gently pressing against hers. Meril's throat opened back up; her heart rate increased. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of his hand caressing her jaw. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his snaked around her waist.

Her knees were buckling, but she didn't pull away. Instead, she pulled closer, feeling the kiss deepen as she did so. She could almost feel the key going into the lock.

_Maybe it isn't so hard,_ Meril thought. She felt a smile spreading across her face as she fervently continued to kiss him. Why had this taken so long? She couldn't remember her heart ever feeling so full as it did right then. She knew her cheeks were flushed, but for once she didn't mind. She was kissing Fred. Nothing else mattered.

Eventually, they pulled away, both breathing hard. Fred rested his forehead against Meril's, still holding her tightly by the waist. He was wearing a grin brighter than the stars on his face.

"Happy New Years."

* * *

**a/n** Okay, so, my best friend Theresa and I have been planning this chapter since HALLOWEEN. I just write too much (and sometimes too slowly) so it took a while to get out. But, for us, this chapter is EPIC. xD The snog...Oh my goodness, finally! Hahaha. I am so happy I finally wrote it.

"Did you snog my best mate?"

If you say it with the English accent like Lee would, it is just amazing...

Anyway, if anyone else liked this chapter, PLEASE let me know. That would like, make my life xD

Not literally, of course, but you know.

Thanks so much for reading!

xox

* * *


	31. Actions

**Chapter Thirty--  
**Actions

**

* * *

**

For Meril, the next few days were both painfully long and impossibly short. Her feelings also seemed to be blatant contradictions of each other; she was afraid people would find out—or even suspect—about her and Fred, yet at the same time, all she really wanted to do was be with him; it almost wouldn't even matter if anyone found out.

Almost.

There was still a part of her—a part which gnawed and clawed at her gut, leaving quite an uncomfortable feeling—which kept her from doing anything in public. However, there was no chance to do anything in private, either. The Weasley house was bustling with life, as could be expected for such a large family, so this shouldn't have been such a surprise. But, even when none of them were around, there was still Lee, popping up everywhere, as usual. And, naturally, George was close by Fred at all times. This in itself really was expected, but something about his behavior was…off. It was nothing terribly obvious—just a trivial little detail, so subtle Meril shouldn't have noticed. She _wouldn't_ have noticed, actually, except for the fact that it was _George_.

His eyes seemed a little dull. His smile didn't come so easily. His laugh was less willing than was usual. And unless Meril was imagining it, he could barely look at Meril or Fred, though he talked to them both no less than usual. Meril was acutely aware of all of these differences, yet she seemed to be the only one who even noticed. George himself seemed unaware of the change in his behavior. When Meril first noticed the way he was acting, she asked him if everything was alright.

"Yeah, of course I am," was his response; as he spoke he stared curiously at Meril, and for that split second he seemed perfectly "George" again. However, as soon as that moment passed he continued on with his abnormal actions, leaving Meril to wonder whether he was lying to her or if he really didn't know what she was talking about. Either way, she was worried, and there was nothing she could do to fix it.

So when January 5th rolled around—it felt like it had taken more than just days—Meril actually felt some relief—Heather was coming back. At last, there was someone she could talk to about all of this. Maybe Heather would be able to help Meril figure the whole thing out.

When Meril went to sleep on the 4th, she was falling asleep with the full intention that the next day would be a good one. She would hang out with everyone again, have fun for a few hours, then, as soon as Heather arrived, she would steal her and run off to Ron's bedroom to fill her in on everything.

However, things did not go quite as planned.

Early that Tuesday morning, unfiltered sunlight streamed in through the window, hitting Meril right in the face. She groaned and turned onto her other side, hoping her back would shield her from the light. And it did. However, that apparently didn't mean she would continue sleeping.

As soon as she turned, she heard a little yelp. Thinking nothing of it, she continued sleeping. But then she heard it again, followed by a groan and a horrified gasp. Meril squeezed her eyes tight and tried to concentrate on getting back to sleep. Perhaps she would have succeeded if the noises hadn't continued, getting progressively louder and more obnoxious with each one added on. At last, her eyes shot open.

No one was there.

Since Meril knew she hadn't been imagining the noises coming from her room, that left just one option. Narrowing her eyes, Meril glared at the mirror.

"How do you even see me?!" she screamed. Or at least she had intended to scream it. Instead, it came out as a raspy, barely audible little screech. Instinctively, her hand shot up to her throat and her eyebrows drew together. She hemmed and coughed a few times, attempting to clear up her throat, but it still felt very tight when she tried to speak again.

"It isn't even fair picking on someone who's sleeping, especially when you can barely see them," she scolded to the mirror, every word a strain. She threw her blankets off of her and was immediately struck by the bitter cold air. Teeth chattering, she sat up so she could go get her robe on the other side of the room. As soon as she was sitting upright she felt an unbearable throbbing in her temples and congestion in her forehead.

_Oh, peachy, _she thought as she slowly rose to her feet. Of all days!

She stumbled across the room, quietly grumbling complaints to herself. It really just wasn't right! What had she done to deserve such unfair treatment! She snatched up her robe and quickly slipped into it.

"Ugh, I hate being sick!" she groaned. Her narrowed eyes snapped towards the mirror, which, over the past few minutes had been impossibly quiet or Meril had finally learned to tune out. "Don't even think about laughing."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The sounds of the Weasley house which Meril usually found so comforting were, at that moment, causing her endless grief. Every footfall, every squeaky floorboard, tweeting owl, whisper, and laugh resonated in her ears and caused a terrible panging in her temples.

This was something like what she had imagined a hangover to be.

The one major difference was that she had done no drinking prior to the headache.

Okay, so she had had one Butterbeer before bed. And, alright, the twins had given her a sip of their dad's Firewhiskey, but Butterbeer did _nothing_ and she hadn't had enough Firewhiskey for there to be any effect. And besides, she was pretty sure that hangovers didn't include runny noses and sore throats. Maybe some body aches—which she was experiencing a lot of—but this had all of the signs of just being a bad cold.

When Meril finally emerged from Ron's room and made it down to the kitchen, she knew she looked like crap. She hadn't bothered brushing her hair—well, she _had _tried, but after just one stroke her headache had intensified immensely, so she decided to just leave it. Her nose was red, as were her eyes, while the rest of her face was looking quite pale. Her robe was hanging limply from her shoulders, half on and half off because she couldn't decide if she was cold or hot, and her slippers were on the wrong feet because she couldn't be bothered to fix it.

Since she had woken up, she had only gotten worse, it seemed.

"Bollocks, Meril! What happened to you?" Lee's voice attacked Meril's eardrums; she flinched.

"If we could all learn sign language, like, now, that would be cool," she rasped, slowly sitting down in a chair as far away from them as possible.

"That doesn't sound good," Fred observed, munching on his cereal. Again, Meril found herself wincing.

"Let me get you some water," George mumbled. As carefully as he could, he got out of his chair—it still scraped noisily against the floor, but at least he tried—and tip-toed to the pantry. As usual, the door squeaked a bit as it opened, but the faucet was nearly silent—it sounded somewhat like a _very _distant waterfall, which was surprisingly soothing, though it did nothing to impede her headache.

George gently placed the glass on the table. Meril looked up at him and flashed him the best smile she could muster, quickly followed by a sniffle.

"Thanks, Georgie."

He looked up at her briefly before resuming his seat at the table to stare at his breakfast. "Welcome." He didn't smile or even look at her as he spoke.

Did he really not notice how different he was acting?

As she sipped at her water, Meril was wondering what on earth was going on with that boy. She unconsciously began to stare at him, only realizing what she was doing when he looked up from his empty plate and gave her a weird look.

"Do you need anything else?" he asked, eyebrows drawn close together as he stared back at her. It was the longest he had looked at her in five days.

"What? Oh, sorry. No, I was just zoning out," Meril responded. As soon as she had said 'no' he had stopped looking at her.

"You sound like a chain smoker," Lee commented.

"Meril! Is there something you're not telling us?" Fred teased, gently nudging her.

"Ow. Fred, please don't do that."

"Oh, sorry Mer," he said sheepishly, moving back into his seat.

"It's fine." Meril smiled warmly at him. "Let's all just have a little moment of silence now, eh?"

It was a literal _moment_. Almost as soon as the words had left Meril's mouth, Mrs. Weasley came bustling into the kitchen. "What are you all just doing sitting around? Go on and get ready."

The four all exchanged looks. Fred was the first to speak.

"Ready for what, Mum?"

"We're all going out. I told you yesterday at supper. Don't you remember?"

"Mum, we don't listen to you. Don't _you_ remember?" George answered with a playful smile and a wink. He was acting completely normal with his mother; why not with Meril?

Mrs. Weasley turned away from the sink to stare at her son, showing clearly by the expression on her face that she wasn't amused by George's little "joke" (he was really quite serious, in actuality). Surprisingly, though, she made no retort except for, "We're going to Diagon Alley to do some shopping." Perhaps she was still in good Christmas cheer.

"Well, go on then!" she exclaimed, shooing them all away with her dish towel.

"Mrs. Weasley?" Meril croaked, slowly rising from her seat.

"Yes, dear?"

"Do you mind if I just stay here and sleep or something?" Meril swallowed and winced; she really shouldn't be talking. "I don't feel very good."

Mrs. Weasley put the bowl she was washing on the drying rack and looked over at Meril. Immediately her eyes widened. "You look terrible! Of course, of course. Stay here. Let me make you some tea…" She flicked her wand at the kettle and it immediately started to boil.

Meril smiled gratefully but couldn't say anything more; her throat was far too sore. She just sat at the counter and watched as Mrs. Weasley prepared the tea.

"George!" Mrs. Weasley called.

Silence answered.

"George!" she called, a little louder this time.

When she still got no answer, she walked over to the stairs and bellowed up, "_GEORGE_!"

"Coming, coming!" George shouted back; his footsteps, followed closely by two more pairs, could be heard quite clearly. "Don't get your knickers all in a twist."

He reappeared in the kitchen— Fred and Lee right behind him, as expected—and received a light slap on the face for his comment. Scowling, he said, "What?"

"Stay here to look after Meril. She looks sick as a dog. Here you go, dear," she added in sweetly, handing Meril a mug of tea. "There's honey in it—for your throat."

"Thanks Mrs. W."

"George, didn't you need to buy something? I can stay," Fred said, leaning against the counter by Meril.

"It's okay, really," Meril croaked. "I don't want to get anyone sick. You should all stay away from me."

"You hush," Mrs. Weasley ordered kindly. "Don't worry about us; we have very good immune systems."

"I don't!" Lee whimpered, eyes going wide. "See you later, Meril!"

"Thanks, Lee. Love you, too!" Meril called after him. He turned, flashed her a grin, and then sprinted back up the stairs. Meril laughed briefly and shook her head before looking back at the twins.

"I don't care which of your stays, as long as one of you do," Mrs. Weasley said. And with that, she walked out of the room, touching Meril's shoulder gently as she went.

"Well," Meril began, grinning, "which one of you lucky fellows will be taking care of me?"

"Do you want me to so you can go buy that book you saw at Flourish and Blotts?" Fred asked, turning towards his twin.

George looked confused for a moment, but then realization dawned on his face and a wide grin spread over his features. Meril felt a pang in her heart. Was she imagining it, or was he acting totally normal around everyone else?

"Ah, yes. The book." George laughed. "Well, alright. If that's okay with you."

"Not a problem. I'm tired anyway." Fred shrugged. Then, draping his arm over Meril's shoulders, said with a grin, "Well, Meril, looks like it's just you and me today."

Meril chuckled. "Yeah…"

She smiled at Fred, but her eyes were on George, waiting to see if he was going to react at all to Fred's comment.

And he did.

His eyes, untouched by his smile, had turned even more dull. He was no longer smiling; it wasn't even that it had faded from his face—it had fallen right off.

"I'm sure you two will have fun."

It sounded sincere, but with his face so stiff it was impossible to tell what was really going on in his mind. Meril had never seen him like that before; it was a bit unnerving

How could he claim that everything was normal?

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"So…do you want to listen to the radio or something?"

"Ah, no! Too loud!" Meril grumbled, turning onto her side so that she could look up at Fred. He was sitting in the armchair looking uncomfortable and bored. He wasn't one to sit still for too long.

"Well, you need some form of entertainment. You'll die of boredom just laying there all day."

"No, Fred. I think you are getting us confused. See, _I_ am perfectly fine just laying here and sleeping until Heather gets here. _You_ are the one who needs entertainment." She smiled broadly up at her red-headed companion. He smiled sheepishly back.

"You caught me…Hm…Maybe I could try to—I'll be right back!" Suddenly he was very animated. He jumped up from his chair and sprinted towards the stairs. Half way up the first flight, he looked over his shoulder at Meril. "You wouldn't happen to have a beret, would you?"

"Dang! I knew there was something I forgot to pack!"

Fred smiled wryly at her. "You better rest your voice, Meril. Wouldn't want that sore throat to get any worse, would you?" He cocked his head to the side which, mixed with his little smirk, gave his words the perfect threatening effect which he had intended. Of course, it didn't actually make Meril feel threatened, but instead make her burst into a fit of giggles which led right into a cough attack and a throb in her head.

For several minutes, Meril lay in wait. She periodically turned her head and stared at the stairs, thinking she heard his footsteps. Each time he wasn't there, she felt a little disappointed. This was their first time alone since New Years, and she knew he was coming back down soon, but she also knew that soon, Heather would be arriving. And the rest of the Weasleys (and Lee) couldn't be out shopping forever. Soon, they wouldn't be alone anymore. And the worst part was that, even while they still _were_ alone, Meril couldn't even kiss him because she was sick.

"This sucks," Meril pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Aw, don't say that! I haven't even started yet!"

Fred stood at the foot of the stairs, playfully pouting. He had changed into a black turtle neck and black pants which, by the looks of it, he hadn't worn in a few years. They were a tight fit and his ankles (and the white socks he was wearing) were starting to show. His black dress shoes were scuffed and worn; his hair was slicked back like Draco Malfoy's. But what really got Meril was his face—it appeared that he had put some sort of powder on it to make it look whiter, but it hadn't completely worked. And there was something weird about his eyes, too…

"Fred, what are you _doing?_" Meril managed to ask through her giggles.

"You hush. You'll see in a minute. Now help me out here. I have no idea how to use these bloody things." He held up a stick of eyeliner and a tube of lipstick.

"Where'd you get those?" Meril wheezed.

"Well, I got to face powder and the lipstick here from me mum, but I couldn't find any of this eye stuff so I went up to your room and snatched a stick. That's okay, right?"

"Yeah, it's fine. So, what did you want me to do?"

"Well, put this lipstick on my lips and the eye stuff around my eyes."

"Liner."

"What?"

"It's called eyeliner. If you're going to be using it, you should know what it's called. If you want I could also get some blush for you. Maybe some eye shadow, too, to accentuate your beautiful eyes." She smiled teasingly at him and he smiled right back.

"No, I don't think that quite fits into my plans, but maybe another time."

"Well, I'm going to hold you to that now. You know that, right?"

Fred sighed. "Yes, I'm sure you will."

Meril's smile broadened. "Alright, now come here and let's do this. I'm warning you, though, I am not so great at this makeup thing myself."

Fred stared at her face for a moment before smiling softly. "I think you're pretty good."

"Thanks." Again, Meril found herself smiling warmly at him. "Okay so…here we go! Close your eyes." She then noticed that Fred had already attempted applying the makeup himself.

It hadn't worked out too well.

There were still black smears where he had tried to wash it off. Halfway up one eyelid he had a big black line where, apparently, his hand had jerked while he was trying to put it on. Meril couldn't help chuckling.

She carefully held his face in place as she applied the eyeliner around his eyes—thick, as he had requested, with thin lines coming from the corners of his eyes, as well us up and down.

"Okay, now, pucker," she ordered, trying to stifle her laughter. He looked so ridiculous.

Fred quickly obliged and Meril immediately lost the urge to laugh. Her eyes fell towards his parted lips, and it was hard to resist kissing him. She felt her heart rate increase and her face became flushed.

"Meril?" Fred's eyes fluttered open and he stared curiously at her.

"Sorry. I was just…sorry. Pucker up again, please."

This time Meril took a deep breath before proceeding. The lipstick he had chosen was a shocking red which completely clashed with his hair. "Are you being a clown?" she asked, rubbing the lipstick against his lips. Fred's eyes opened and he stared blankly at her. "You can't answer me, can you? Well, okay, blink once for 'yes' and twice for 'no.' Do you need me to paint a big clown smile on you with this?"

He blinked twice.

"Darn. Well, I guess I'm done then. Just…smack your lips together to spread it out a bit." She sat back and watched him as he did what she had ordered. "So are you going to tell me what you're doing?"

He blinked twice.

"You can talk now, you know. It won't mess the lipstick up or anything."

For a third time, he blinked twice.

"Fine, don't talk to me. Whatever." She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, but Fred didn't react at all. Instead, he walked to the clear area of the room and, standing erect, stared right at Meril.

It wasn't until he knocked his fist against the empty air that Meril realized what he was doing. She felt incredibly stupid not to have noticed it before.

"You're a mime!" she exclaimed.

As Fred fumbled through his performance—doing some mime classics, such as the rope-pulling and the trapped-in-the-box, along with some things he probably made up on the spot—Meril found herself in stitches. Under any normal circumstance, she probably would not have found this the least bit amusing since she found mimes more than a little creepy. However, watching Fred attempt the art of pantomime was absolutely hysterical, mostly because he had no clue what he was even doing.

When Fred finally freed himself from the invisible box—again—he wiped his brow. Then, looking down, he made a silent gasp. Bending, he struggled to pull something from the ground. Then, straightening, he took a big whiff and smiled at Meril.

Flowers.

With two long strides, he was standing in front of Meril. With a big smile, he leaned towards her and offered the imaginary bouquet. Meril wrapped her hand around Fred's, since that was the only way to be sure that she actually grabbed the stems.

"Um, thanks Fred," she said, unsurely sniffing the "flowers." When she looked back up, Fred was still standing there, smiling with his twinkling eyes. He raised his eyebrows at her, a smirk dancing on his red lips. Then, gently, he lifted Meril's cold hand and placed his warm lips against it.

"Come here," he tenderly ordered; he was still holding her hand.

Slowly, Meril got to her feet and found herself barely two inches from Fred. As she stared at his chest, which was just below eye-level for her, Fred closed that distance and wrapped his arms around her small frame. Meril looked up at his face and instantly forgot that he was dressed as a mime; all she could see in that instant was Fred. She cursed her luck again for being sick on this of all days.

"Hey," he said hoarsely. His hazel eyes bore into Meril's blue ones. A smile twitched onto her lips.

"H--" she was interrupted by Fred's lips crashing against hers. Meril started to kiss back when she remembered, yet again, what had been keeping her from doing this before.

"Fred." She pushed away. "I don't want to get you sick. Come on, let's play a nice game of cards or something to pass the time instead."

"Meril, don't worry about it," Fred said easily, his cocky smile once again gracing his mouth. "You heard what Mum said—we Weasleys have very strong immune systems. And in any case, getting a little cold is worth getting to kiss you. I've been waiting for this chance for _days_ and I'm not going to let a little case of the sniffles stop me."

Meril couldn't help smiling at his resolution. "Are you sure?"

Instead of answering, Fred leaned down and kissed her softly on both cheeks, then on the mouth. Resting his forehead against hers, he stared into her eyes and smiled before kissing her again.

Actions always did speak louder than words.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The radio was on, playing some soft music Meril had never heard before. Meril lay across the couch, resting her head on Fred's lap as she dozed in and out of sleep. He was stroking her hair softly, and every once in a while he would bend in a way that could _not_ be comfortable to give her a soft kiss. Whether it be on her forehead, cheek, nose, or lips, it didn't matter; every time a smile spread across Meril's face and she felt a jolt of excitement go through her, waking her back up.

Meril reached up and brushed a strand of hair from his face. Thankfully, he had washed all the makeup from his face and got all of the grease from his hair, leaving him looking like Fred again.

"You know," Meril said began thoughtfully, allowing her hand to drop back down to her stomach "I think you are one of those people who doesn't need makeup. I mean, there are some people who, if they don't wear makeup…well, it isn't pretty. And then there are those other people who don't even need makeup and they look flawless. Heather's one of those people."

Fred laughed, shaking his head. "You're silly. Of course I need makeup. Why do you think I always take so long to get downstairs?"

Meril grinned and shook her head. "Now who's the silly one?"

"It's still you." He leaned down again, kissing the corners of her lips.

Meril sat up and repositioned herself so that she could face him properly. She leaned towards him and gave him a hesitant kiss. He cupped her face with his hands as she moved to pull back and resumed the kiss, deepening it. Fred's thumb gently caressed Meril's cheek. Her hands were in his hair; she loved the way it felt on her fingers—soft; comforting.

"Whoa, what's going on here?!"

Meril startled, pulling away from Fred and nearly falling from the couch. Fred caught her at the last moment, placing her back in her seat.

"I guess you forgot I was coming, hm? That's okay. I can see you were…uh, _busy_." Heather placed her bags down at her feet and silently stared at them.

"Hey Heather," Fred said huskily. He cleared his throat. "When did you get here?"

"Just a moment ago. Your kitchen door was open. Good thing, too, because you guys wouldn't have even heard me knock." She cocked her head to the side, still watching Meril and Fred curiously; Meril couldn't help noticing she wasn't smiling. "Oh, I past everyone in town. Meril, Mrs. Weasley told me to remind you to drink your tea and to not let Fred convince you to do anything too…exciting. Says you are sick. I can see now that you are," the blonde added, scanning quickly over her best friend.

"Thanks, Heath," Meril said. She felt herself shrinking under her best friend's gaze; something about the way Heather was looking at her made her feel guilty.

"Oh, she also said a letter came for you this morning, but she forgot to tell you. It's in the kitchen. I could get it for you, if you would like to get back to what you were at?"

"No, that's okay. I can get it."

Meril quickly stood up and walked into the kitchen. She felt like a little school girl who had just been scolded by her teacher.

"She said she left it on the table."

"Thanks."

Heather frowned. "You really don't sound good."

"I know," Meril responded, shrugging. She began shuffling through the paper on the table for her letter. It only took a moment for her to find the one unopened envelope.

"Who is it from?" Heather asked, glancing over Meril's shoulder.

"Not sure yet. I recognize the handwriting, but…" Meril shook her head and immediately regretted it when she received another uncomfortable throb. "I can't place it."

"Hm. Before you open it, can we go up and talk?" The purposeful look on Heather's face made Meril immediately comply. She stuck the letter in her robe pocket.

"Fred, we're going to go up and talk for a bit," the brunette said.

"Oh, alright. Heather, do you need any help carrying your things up the stairs?"

"If you don't mind," the blonde replied, flashing a brief smile towards the redhead.

"Not at all." He lifted up her trunk and started trudging up the stairs. Heather grabbed her purse and Meril's hand and followed after him.

"Well, there you go," Fred puffed when they reached the top. He put the trunk down in the doorway and turned towards the girls. "I guess I'll leave you two to talking then." He flashed them both a brilliant grin. He leaned towards Meril then instantly pulled back. For a moment he stared at her before patting her shoulder and walking off.

Meril blinked after him, opening and closing her mouth like a fish.

"Sorry, Mer. That's probably my fault." She didn't sound too apologetic, though. Nor did she act it when she grabbed Meril's shoulders and guided her into the "cantaloupe room," as Heather had deemed it.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"Hang on." Heather sat her friend down on her bed and then went back to close and lock the door. When she whirled back around, she didn't look too pleased. " What the bloody hell was going on down there?"

Meril was always amazed at how fast Heather could go hot and cold. "What do you mean?"

"I _mean_ all the kissing!"

"You told me to figure out which key!"

"Yeah, well I didn't mean by snogging them both, now did I?"

"I _didn't_ snog them both. Just Fred."

"Oh, well that makes it a whole lot better, doesn't it? How did it even happen?"

Meril swallowed hard and winced. Heather was making her awfully uncomfortable. "Well, after you left--"

"After I left? So this has been going on a few days already?"

"Well…sort of. We really haven't had the opportunity to be alone."

"Understandable."

"Right. So, after you left we decided to play Quidditch, but Fred didn't want to play Quidditch—he wanted to have a snowball fight. So when George and Lee ran ahead, I stayed back and I started a snowball fight. Eventually we fell and he kissed me. Then George came looking for us and--"

"George saw you two? Is that why he's acting so weird?"

"You think he's acting weird, too? Thank Merlin! I thought I was the only one. But no, he didn't see us, and he said that he's fine, so I don't know what's up." Meril paused, frowning. "Why would him seeing us make him act weird?"

Heather stared blankly at her best fried and sighed. "You were saying?"

"Oh yes! So Fred and I were both acting a little weird, and they—George and Lee—noticed, and Lee was all 'Did you snog my best mate?' which didn't help matters, and it was just…" Meril trailed off, staring up at the ceiling as she searched for the right word. "Weird."

"Lee really said that?" Heather was grinning widely,

"Yes! Stop laughing, it wasn't funny!"

"Oh, I think it was," Heather laughed. "I can just see him doing it, too. Did he get all up in your face?"

"Heather!"

"Right." The blonde cleared her throat and straightened her face. "You were saying?" she said somberly, causing Meril to burst into laughter.

"Meril, I'm trying to be serious here. You really need to stop interrupting with your incessant laughter."

Which, of course, made Meril giggle even more. "Sorry. You're just…funny today, I guess. First you're all disapproving, then you're friendly, then back to disapproving and kind of angry, and now you're all joking. It's weird."

"Stop saying weird. It's redundant." Heather stuck her tongue out. "But seriously, what else?"

"Well, he kissed me at midnight…on New Years. Don't worry, it was in private."

"Okay, good."

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you so concerned about this whole thing? I thought you'd be pleased that I got this figured it out."

"Are you sure you do? Because I'm just afraid that someone is going to get hurt."

"Heather, when he kissed me, I swear I could feel the key going into the lock."

"But could you feel it turn?"

Meril stared blankly at her best friend for a minute before intelligibly responding, "Huh?"

"Never mind. I think we are going too far with this key analogy. Let's just…open the letter, eh? I'm dying to know who it's from!"

"No you aren't, you're just trying to change the subject. Heath, what did you mean?"

"Really, it's nothing. I just want to be sure you know what you're doing is all. This can be tricky business. But really, the letter?"

"Okay, fine," Meril sighed. She pulled out the envelope and stared at the writing on it. She felt like she had just seen it recently—perhaps on her birthday? Still, she couldn't place it.

_Dear Meril,_

_Happy Christmas. And I'm sure by the time I get this to you, I will owe you a Happy New Years, too. I hope you had two wonderful holidays._

Steve—of course. Everyone else had gotten their Christmas letters to her already—everyone except Steve. Meril had just assumed that he had given up picking up correspondence with Meril after she didn't answer his birthday letter. Apparently not.

_It's nice to be out of school. While I was at Boot Camp, I had sort of missed it. I think that must be the point of that place—to make you forget how much you hated the place you came from. That's the effect it had on me, in any case. Of course, this isn't the same place I went before, but it still feels the same. I know you love Hogwarts. Maybe I should try there next year._

"Oh, please don't," Meril whined. She missed Steve, but she couldn't deal with him going to the same school as her.

"What?" Heather crawled onto the bed beside Meril and took a peek at the letter. "Who's it from?"

"Steve," Meril groaned.

"Ooooooh." Heather sat back. "Is it weird that you still talk to your ex?"

"You just said weird."

"Oops! So I did. But now you're avoiding the question."

"No I'm not. And no, it isn't really. We were friends first and foremost—at least in my mind, anyway. That's why I made sure that we ended on good terms—so we could still be friends." She sighed. "I really loved him, though."

"God, I hope you don't still," Heather cried out, dramatic as usual. "That would make things _so_ complicated!"

Meril narrowed her eyes. "Do you want to read the letter or not?"

"Really?!" the blonde squealed.

"Really. Now shush."

_My parents are still the same as they were a few years ago—remember what I told you? Constantly bickering and uninterested? Nothing has changed about that. The only thing that has changed is that I have stopped caring. There is little I really care about these days. At least in Boot Camp I felt a sense of purpose—to get out of these as soon as possible. But school's a waste of time for me. The people there are all…I can't even describe them. They're just…weird._

"Ha! He said weird, too!"

_They all seem to think they're perfect and they practically faun over the Headmistress. There is some girl here who is part Veela and all the guys practically fall over her. She is very pretty, but I don't see why everyone thinks she is so great. She's kind of a big bitch.  
Sometimes I imagine I feel the same way you did in Germany—totally and completely lost. I know the language, but some of their phrases are just beyond me. All in all, I suppose I am still better off than you were.  
I still find myself thinking about you fairly often, especially now that it's winter. I am sure you are out in the snow constantly with all of your friends. You probably got sick from it, knowing you. I, personally, have been doing a whole lot of nothing on my break. I read, mostly, and do homework. If you saw me now, I probably wouldn't even seem like the same person. I don't to myself. I used to feel so much more…spirited, I guess? I'm not sure how I felt, all I know is I now feel pretty useless.  
Ah, well.  
Anyway, I should probably be going now. Enjoy your break. Hope to hear from you soon._

_--Steve West_

"Well, Meril, he seems pretty down in the dumps. I hope this doesn't have anything to do with your breakup a year and a half ago."

"I'm sure it doesn't; don't be absurd. You don't know Steve. He's just…he's funky like that, I guess. Sometimes he just acts…odd."

"You never know, that could be Fred in a year and a half—broken; _useless._"

"Heather!" Meril laughed, swatting her friend with a pillow. "Stop."

"Fine, fine." She paused, staring at Ron's Chudley Canon posters for a moment before turning back towards Meril, a grin on her face. "You were doing anything you could not to say weird, weren't you?"

"N—yes."

Heather threw her head back and laughed. "I guess Steve saying it wasn't much reinforcement, was it?"

"It wasn't that. You just made me feel very self-conscious."

"Yeah, well, I tend to do that to people." Heather threw her long hair over her shoulder jokingly.

"Have I ever told you how much I hate you?"

"Yeah, but I know you don't really."

"Oh, and how is that Lettie?"

"Because of the way you act, silly!"

Meril shook her head and pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin atop them. Suddenly her mind was spinning and it made her head hurt even more.

Stupid Steve and his letter.

Stupid Heather and her words.

Stupid George and his moods.

Stupid Fred and his lips.

It wasn't fair.

* * *

**a/n** Hey! Sorry it took me a while to get this out. I have had it done for a month but I just haven't gotten around to posting it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. I am currently pretty busy with schoolwork, but I am planning on rewriting/ revising chapters 1-12 because they are kind of...well iffy. And I have gotten bad reviews because of them so I want to fix it. Also, I have started another Harry Potter fanfic :) I should be posting it soon! Feel free to check it out :)

xxoxx


	32. Return

**Chapter Thirty-One—**  
Return

* * *

The last few days at The Burrow passed similarly to the first few. Meril, the twins, and Heather played around all day and all night, never settling down to do any work until the last possible second. The only differences between the beginning and the end were that now Lee had been added to the group, and Meril was constantly itching to be with Fred.

It was early morning on January 10. The sun hadn't eve come up over the horizon yet. In the dim light of Ron Weasley's cantaloupe room, Meril and Heather were packing up there things, getting ready for their departure.

"When I'm not in the prefect's compartment, I was thinking I would sit with some of my Hufflepuff friends," Heather said thoughtfully. She folded up her pajamas and set them down beside her uniform.

"Oh, okay," Meril commented, frowning slightly. She had been looking forward to all of them sitting together on the train, with the addition of Angelina and Alicia. Of course, she could understand Heather wanting to sit with some friends she hadn't seen since they had left, but still, it was disappointing.

"Yeah. And I was thinking that you should sit with me."

Meril gave the blonde a curious look. "I can't even remember their names. Why do you want me to sit with them?"

Heather shrugged, but Meril could tell by her expression that she had a real reason behind her suggestion.

Meril closed her trunk and sat down on it. "Come on. What are you scheming there, Miss Scarlett? I think I know you well enough to know when something is going on I your head."

"It was merely a suggestion. And, if you must know, I thought you might like some time away from the boys. I mean, think about it. You would be with them on a train for hours, in _very _close quarters with a certain Mr. Weasley. Don't think I haven't noticed the way you two have been acting around each other," she lowered her voice, leaning in close to the brunette. "If you are with him for hours on end, I know one of you will do _something_ you'll end up regretting."

A scowl was set into Meril's face. She knew that Heather was right. Her lips had gone without touching Fred's for much longer than she liked, and she wanted so badly to feel them again, but not at the risk of George finding out. He was still acting funny, and until she found out why that was, she didn't want to tell him. She wasn't sure how he would react to the news, and it was his feelings that worried her more than anything else.

So, with a sigh, Meril nodded her consent. "Okay, fine. I will sit with you and your friends. But first, you need to remind me what their names are. I seriously can never remember."

Heather rolled her eyes. "You are ridiculous. Is it really that hard to just remember a couple of names?"

"Is it any harder to just remind me?"

"Fine! But just...try to remember this time? There is Cedric Diggory—that is the sixth year, kind of tall and handsome with brown hair, you know the one—and—"

"Heather, I know who Cedric is," Meril said impatiently.

"Oh, my bad. Just checking!" Heather replied with a cheeky grin. "Now where was I? Oh, yes! Then there is Rome Dickinson, Cora Rose, and Ashley Bitler. Trey might come, too. And Jesse—that's Ashley's boyfriend—will probably be sitting with us, too. And if Trey and Jesse are both there, that might mean Ryan and Caleb will show up…And Rome likes to have _his_ friends around, too so—"

Meril tried to catch all of the names, but most just floated in one ear and out the other. The few names that stuck were faceless. She could not picture who any of them were. Rome Dickinson, Ashley Bitler, Cora Rose, Jesse…They were just names. And then she said Caleb…

"Caleb? Caleb Stinson?" That one she knew. Out of all of those names, she could place one face.

"Yeah, him," Heather said with some distaste.

"Why would he be there?"

"Because he's friends with Trey and Jesse, duh!"

Meril stared at her friend blankly. "_Who?_"

Heather sighed heavily, falling back on her bed. "You know what, when you see them, maybe then you'll be able to remember. I don't have the patience to explain right now, and we still have some cleaning up to do before we can go eat."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

After breakfast, everyone lined up outside of The Burrow, things in tow. There were nine of them in total—Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Percy, Fred and George, Ginny, Lee, Heather, and Meril—standing in wait for the Ministry cars to come pick them up. Meril imagined that they must have looked rather peculiar standing there, bundled up against the cold with their trunks and owls. She wondered how they would have looked if Bill and Charlie hadn't already left.

At last, the Ministry cars pulled up in front of the house. They had only sent two. Meril looked at them incredulously, curious how they could ever fit nine people, seven trunks, an owl, and a cat in _two _small cars.

The drivers got out and opened the two cars, revealing expanded interiors. Meril looked at the cars to see if they looked abnormally large, but on the outside they were the size of an average car. This shouldn't have surprised Meril—after all, she _was_ from a wizarding family—but it did.

As the drivers started to load their trunks into the cars, Mr. Weasley turned towards his eight companions and clapped his hands together. "Right! Well, let's see how we're going to divide this up then. You five," he said, looking at the twins, Meril, Lee, and Heather, "can go on ahead in that car, and the four of us will—"

"Father, do you really think that is advisable?" Percy interjected. He stood tall with a somewhat haughty expression on his face, as if being Head Boy gave him any authority in this situation.

Arthur Weasley gave his son an odd look. "What do you mean?"

"Do you really think it is safe to put those five in a car alone with no supervision? They'd wreak havoc, surely. Back in September, they threw a Dungbomb out of a carriage on the way to the castle. I just don't think that—"

"You did **_what_**?!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked, rounding on her sons, fire burning in her eyes.

The four who had been in that cabin averted their eyes. While Meril knew she should own up to the fact that _she_ had done it, not the twins, she couldn't bring herself to. Mrs. Weasley, while a very sweet woman, could also be terrifying, and she didn't want to be on the receiving end of that fury.

Before Mrs. Weasley could say more or Meril could find the nerves she needed to claim responsibility for the incident, Heather piped up. "I wasn't in the carriage when that happened," she said with a pointed look at Percy. "And I'm a prefect. I can keep things under control if they get too rowdy."

Mrs. Weasley and Percy both looked doubtful, but Mr. Weasley seemed perfectly content with this. Meril got the impression that he didn't want to be put in a car with any combination of them and was perfectly content with this solution.

"That sounds great, Heather. Well come along Ginny, Percy—let's get going." He led Ginny to the car and stood aside as she and Percy clambered in. "Molly?"

"Arthur, I'm not sure…"

"Molly, dear, it's _fine_. Now let's just go. We don't want to be late."

With a sigh and a distrustful look at the twins, Mrs. Weasley allowed her husband to lead her into the car. Mr. Weasley sighed at the remaining five before he too got in, and the car slowly pulled five fifth years looked at the retreating car with smiles on their faces.

"Good work, Heather," Lee said, patting the blonde on the arm.

"Yeah, I never thought I'd be grateful to a prefect," Fred added.

"Well, I'm not just _any_ prefect, now am I?"

"Oh, dear, that's what I was afraid of," George said with a sigh. "The typical cocky attitude of a prefect."

"_What_?!"

"Sorry, Heath. Sounds like you _are_ just a regular prefect."

"George, you suck. Get in the car."

"See what I'm talking about?" he exclaimed, looking around at the others to see if anyone agreed with him. "Belittling me, ordering me around…She's a real prefect!"

"Yeah, I can see what you're talking about!" Meril said with a laugh. She climbed into the car, taking a seat between the twins. Heather climbed into the front seat to "exert her authority," as George said.

"This is the thanks I get for saving you from your mother's wrath? I should have just left her to it. I don't want to be in a car with you guys, anyway."

"Aw, Heather! That's not true!" Fred pouted, thrusting out his lower lip. Meril was careful not to look at him as he did this. Just looking at his mouth reminded her of how long it had been since she'd been able to kiss it. Subconsciously she scooted away from him, doing her best to distance herself, only to find herself pressed up against George.

He went rigid as soon as she did so. Immediately, he stopped teasing Heather, and the car was silent. Meril awkwardly tried to readjust herself so she wasn't touching either twin, but it wasn't working very well at all.

"That's more like it!" Heather exclaimed. She looked over her shoulder with a smile on her face, only for it to drop as soon as she looked at the backseat. Her eyes had a knowing look to them, as if she could explain why the silence had fallen over them, or why George was still acting so strange.

The five passed the rest of the car ride in relative silence. Over the break, they had pretty much worn out all modes of conversation, leaving nothing to fill awkward silences. Usually the twins had the perfect remedy for such occasions, but not this time. George was still in his weird mood, and without him to play off of him, Fred really didn't have anything to do. Lee made some attempts at conversation, but these quickly died out.

"I'm sitting with Heather on the train. She wants to hang out with some other friends and I decided to sit with her," Meril announced as they neared the station.

This earned a reaction.

"What? Why?" Fred asked a bit too earnestly. George turned to look at them, his eyes narrowing slightly as they flittered about his twin's face.

"It'll be so lonely without you guys!" Lee moped.

"Do you even know her friends' names?" George asked, an amused smile on his face. Meril felt relief at this bit of normalcy. For days, she had been going on just these little moments where the real George would shine through his abnormal behavior.

"No," Meril scowled. "But what better way to learn than being stuck on a train with them for hours! It's really the perfect set up for getting to know new people."

"I never knew that was something you were interested in."

"Yeah, well…it's not something I go around looking to do, but, Heather asked. And she can be _so_ persistent! You know how she is. Whine, whine, whine until you agree."

"Hey, Queenie. I'm right here," Heather said curtly.

"I know."

Meril and George shared a smile, leaving Meril feeling happier than she had felt in…She paused. She wasn't even sure how long it had been. Just the sight of his easy smile after so much weirdness made her feel…lighter.

"Do you think Alicia and Angelina will still sit with us if you aren't there?" Lee asked thoughtfully.

"I don't know. I don't know why Angelina would willingly put herself at risk by sitting with you, but I guess we'll see, won't we?" Meril replied, smirking playfully at him. He scowled.

"You'll visit us, won't you?"

"Of course I will, Fred. There is no need to look so forlorn, though. It's not like I'm leaving again. We'll be on the same train, and we're going to the same place."

"Yeah, but still," Fred grumbled as the car pulled into King's Cross Station. The rest of their party was already waiting for them with two extra trolleys for all of their things.

"It'll be okay, you big baby," Meril laughed, giving his hair a tousle. "Now get out."

He didn't move, so Meril reached across him and opened the door. Then, with a shove, he was out of the car. Meril hurried out after him and held her hand out to George, but he had already gotten out the other side.

"Come along, hurry up!" Mrs. Weasley ordered, ushering them along. "We don't want to be late!"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Meril and Heather said their good-byes to the boys as they stepped onto the train. Meril felt weird as she walked down the corridor without them; she couldn't imagine what she would do with a bunch of strangers for so many hours.

Why had she agreed to this again?

She sighed as she noticed Heather coming to a stop outside of a compartment door. Inside there were two boys and two girls, but Meril couldn't get a good look at any of them before Heather turned towards her, blocking her view.

"Okay, so you see the girl with the red hair? That's Cora Rose. Ashley Bitler is the other one. The boy she is next to her is her boyfriend, Jesse Fujimaki. And the other guy is Rome Dickinson. I wish more people were here already so that we wouldn't have to do awkward introductions, but, clearly that's not going to happen." Heather sighed before carefully looking her friend over. "Do you think you can remember all of that?"

"Yes, Heather. I think I can remember that much. Short term is fine. But long-term…that's another story altogether."

"I just want to be sure!"

"You have nothing to worry about. Can we just…go in now? I think they noticed us just standing here, and I feel weird."

"Oh, yeah, sure. Sorry." With one hand, Heather bent down to grab her trunk as she slid open the compartment door with the other. Meril hesitantly followed her inside.

"Heather!" the red-haired girl—Cora, Meril reminded herself—exclaimed, jumping to her feet. She gave Heather a big hug, and Meril was surprised at the size difference. Cora was a tall girl—probably standing at around 5'10"—with an athletic build, and she dwarfed Heather by a good five inches.

"Hey, Cora! I missed you!" Heather said as she stepped out of the hug. "You know Meril, right?"

Cora looked over at Meril and smiled. She had a friendly face—a wide smile and bright gray-green eyes. Looking at her, Meril felt as if they were friends and immediately felt bad for not knowing who she was. "Yeah. I know Meril."

Well that just made it worse.

Meril smiled back at her and waved, hoping she gave the impression that she knew who the red-head was.

"My turn!" Rome exclaimed, struggling to his feet. He was about the same height as Heather, maybe a little taller. Meril discreetly looked him over, taking in his dark, wavy hair and brown eyes. She was happy to say that she did, actually recognize him from Herbology class.

Meril glanced over at Ashley and recognized her, too. She had sharp features and dull, dark brown eyes which gave her the impression of being unfriendly. This combined with her long, curly brown hair reminded Meril so much of Jennifer Crisp and she couldn't help but shudder.

"Hey, Meril," Ashley greeted with a smile on her face, giving the Gryffindor a small wave. Meril instantly felt relieved. If she had to deal with a second Jennifer, she would have left right then and there.

"Hi Ashley."

"This is Jesse. I'm not sure…have you met?"

Meril looked at him and suddenly realized why he looked so familiar before. "You're the boy that defended me that one time…You came in and told McGonagall that Amy had been provoking me."

He looked at her oddly for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. I also played at your birthday party. Bass."

"Oh, yeah!" Meril nodded; she vaguely remembered seeing him there. "You guys are really good."

"Thanks." He smiled at her, but it seemed unsure. His eyebrows were knit together as he continued to look at her, as if waiting for some other form of recognition.

None came.

Meril awkwardly looked around, drumming her hands against her legs. Heather was talking animatedly with Rome and Cora about something, leaving Meril to fend for herself—something she had been hoping to avoid. She needed something to distract her from the fact that she was away from the boys, and she was no good at making conversation with people she didn't know.

She looked over at Ashley and Jesse openly cuddling and frowned to herself. She wanted that. She wanted to go find Fred where he sat with George and Lee and kiss him. The only thing stopping her was her fear of how George would react. And that _shouldn't_ have stopped her. George was just her friend. And he was Fred's twin brother. He would be happy for them, and if he wasn't…well, of course that would upset Meril. That was a natural feeling for someone to feel. She just felt it would upset her more than it should. Pretty much everything about him affected him more than it should.

She was just too blind to see why.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The train had barely taken off when the compartment door slid open once more, revealing two tall boys. Heather jumped out of her seat and leapt on top of one with a squeal, sending him stumbling out into the corridor. The other looked at the two with an amused smile and stepped inside.

"Hey, guys," he said, sending a general wave out to the inhabitants. Then, spotting Jesse, he grinned. "Hey, Bass!"

Jesse extricated himself from Ashley's arms and got to his feet. He gave the newcomer some sort of handshake-hug combination and asked, "How are you?"

The new guy shrugged. "I'm alright," he said. He glanced over his shoulder into the hallway with a frown. "Been better I guess."

Jesse gave him a knowing look and pat him on the shoulder. "Are you going to stay with us?"

"Yeah, probably. Ryan is already sitting with some other people, and I'd feel out of place with them." He gave another look towards the hallway, where Cedric and Heather had their foreheads together, smiling and laughing. "I hope I'm not intruding on anyone, though."

"Oh, I doubt it," Jesse answered.

The newcomer nodded and went silent. For a few minutes he just stared at his hands. Then, finally, he seemed to take notice of the unfamiliar figure seated beside him. He looked to the side and smiled, squinting against the sun coming in through the window.

"Hey. How you doing there?"

Meril smiled. "I'm fine, thanks. And yourself?"

He nodded. "I'm alright," he repeated. Then, straightening up, he extended his hand. "Trey Carlton."

"Meril Lizlow." She grabbed his hand and gave it a firm shaking, smiling slightly as she looked him over. His light brown eyes twinkled behind his glasses as he continued to smile. He had a pointed nose, Meril noticed, and his nostrils flared when his mouth moved too much.

"Hey, you're the birthday chick!" he exclaimed. "I thought you looked familiar."

Meril furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't really recognize him. "I'm sorry? I…"

"I'm part of The Hogs. Keyboards!"

Now that he mentioned it, she could vaguely recall having seen him before. She had seen so many people that day though that all of the faces sort of blended together. "Oh, alright. So that's how you two know each other?" She pointed at Jesse.

"Yup!" Trey said enthusiastically. "So how do you know him?"

"Oh, um. I just really met him now," Meril said with a nod. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jesse's face contort again. He opened his mouth as if to make a comment, but decided against it. Meril wondered why he kept doing that.

"Oh. So…who do you know in here?"

"Heather."

Once again, his eyes flickered towards the corridor and he sort of grimaced. "Oh, of course. That girl knows everyone, doesn't she?" he laughed.

"Yeah, I guess. I've known her since I was a little kid; we practically grew up together.

"Really? That's cool."

"Yeah. So…you and Cedric are friends then?"

"Yeah, yeah! We go way back, too! Well…not as far as you two, though, I guess. But ever since our first year, we've been really good friends. We were on the Quidditch team together for a while—I was a Chaser—but then I quit to be in The Hogs."

"That's cool. How long have you guys been together—as in you, Jesse, Caleb, and…"

"Ryan. Um…this is our second year. Right, Jess?"

"Yeah. We started last school year," Jesse answered.

"That's really cool," Meril said, smiling. "So do you ever miss Quidditch?" She was surprised how easy it was to talk to him. He was so laid-back that everything just seemed to roll off the tongue. There was no struggle. It was just…easy.

"Well, yeah, I guess. It was fun. But it's just so…" He shrugged. "I love what I'm doing now so much better." He narrowed his eyes and looked her over, as if he was trying to remember where he'd seen her before—besides the party. "You ever play Quidditch?"

"Oh, yeah. I was the Seeker for Gryffindor my second year."

"_That_ is why you looked familiar at your party! Okay, it all makes sense to me now."

"That's the only reason you recognized her?" Rome piped up, leaning forward curiously.

"Yeah…" Trey said slowly. "Why else would I? We're in different houses…we're a year apart…Right?" He looked over at Meril for confirmation. "You're a fifth year then?"

"Yeah, I'm a fifth year."

"Yeah! Why else would I recognize her?"

"The Dungbomb Queen?" Cora suggested. "Does that ring a bell?"

"Well, of course…"

"All of the teachers hated her. She was always getting in trouble…getting in fights…" Rome continued. "And the only connection you made was Quidditch, where you saw her maybe once—twice—in passing?"

"That was _you_?!" Trey shouted, rounding on Meril. "You were that...that…_brat_?"

"Gee, thanks," Meril said dryly.

"Wow, I never would have guessed." He ran a hand through his short hair, brushing his bangs off of his forehead. "You seem so much…I don't know…calmer than that spunky, hot-headed, little—"

"I get the point," Meril interrupted, her face growing hot. "Thanks."

Trey seemed to realize that he had just been insulting her and blushed. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I just…I never would have made that connection."

"Yeah, well, I've changed in the past two years. Not so…er…_hot-headed_ anymore, I guess. Well," Meril reconsidered, "I don't go picking fights, actually. I'm still pretty hot-headed."

"Do you still get in lots of trouble?"

"Well…" Meril hesitated. "Not really, I guess? I am not really sure. I still like joking around, so I get in trouble for being cheeky or for pranks or something like that. But I don't get in trouble for anything really bad anymore."

"Well, that's good. So, you said something about the past two years. What initiated that change?"

Meril was silent for a moment. She should have known, with the way their conversation had turned, that this topic would come up, but she had been hoping it wouldn't. Looking around, she could see that none of the people there really knew what had happened to her—where she had gone. And, unfortunately, they all looked interested.

On one hand, it was nice to know that Heather hadn't been talking about what had happened to her to strangers, but Meril almost wished that she had—it would save her the trouble of doing it now.

So, with a sigh, Meril explained, "I got sent to…uh…_Reform_ Camp. Dumbledore had the hopes that some time there would do me some good. And, so, after second year, I went off to _Reform_ Camp where they sort of whipped me into shape. I was supposed to stay two years, but then they let me go after one year and I went to Germany. And now I'm back here!"

"Well, you were a serious bad-ass, weren't you?" Rome asked with a smile. His nose scrunched up as he did so and Meril noticed the light freckles sprinkled across his face. He was sort of cute.

"Oh, definitely," Meril said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I kind of like Trey's description better though."

"What, brat?" Trey asked, smiling slightly. He was pretty cute, too. In fact…everyone in that room was good-looking, Meril noticed. It was slightly unnerving. Meril was used to being around attractive people—after all, she was under the constant impression that everyone was better looking than she was—but for some reason this felt unnatural.

"Yeah. I was a little brat," she said with a laugh, trying to shake the thoughts from her mind.

"Aw, I bet that isn't true!" Cora exclaimed; by the look on her face, she truly seemed to believe that. Poor, deluded girl...

"No, I—"

"No, you were just…misguided," the red-head insisted.

"Cora, how would you know that?" Ashley asked. Meril hadn't even realized she had been paying any attention to the conversation.

"I just…I just know!" Cora said confidently.

After that, no one dared argue. Of course, no one besides Meril would really be able to say anything except Heather, but she had disappeared with Cedric somewhere.

The compartment was silent for the first time since Trey had joined them. Ashley and Jesse had even stopped twittering to each other and were just sitting there, leaning against each other. Even so, Meril was reminded painfully of her urge to be with Fred and had to look away.

She caught sight of Trey, staring out into the empty corridor with sad eyes. What he was thinking of, Meril hadn't a clue, but seeing his expression made her feel sad and she didn't know how to comfort him. So instead she just looked away.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

It wasn't really so bad sitting with Heather's friends. As the hours wore on, she found out she actually really liked them.

Trey was so easy to talk to that Meril felt like she had known him for ages. Rome and Cora were both so friendly it was nearly impossible for Meril to feel awkward around them. And even Ashley and Jesse both warmed up eventually.

As the train ride was ending, Meril nearly felt like she belonged. She was able to forget that she wasn't sitting with her boys and just allowed herself to have a good time with new people, which was something new for her. She hated meeting new people. When she was the new girl, that was something else—she could sulk about and just ignore everyone; it wasn't fun, but it wasn't miserable. Usually when she was being introduced to people, though, she felt so out of place that it was impossible for her to let herself have a good time.

This was different.

Hufflepuffs…they were good people.

With an hour left, Meril stepped out to go get ready for their arrival. Holding her robed close to her, she made her way towards the bathroom. Over break, she had finally gotten to adjusting her clothes. She couldn't wait for the twins to see—at long last they could stop bugging her.

"You seem awfully happy, Miss Lizlow."

Meril stopped in her tracks and turned, looking for the source of the voice. Caleb Stinson emerged from the compartment beside her. She hadn't even noticed him before.

"Hello," she said coolly. "It's been a while."

He smiled back at her wryly. "I guess it has. How's Pistachio?"

"She's good. And I am, too; thank you for asking."

"I was getting there. You Gryffindors are all _so _impatient."

"Yes, well…Did you want something?"

"No, no. Just commenting that you looked happy." He titled his head to the side and watched her. His sandy hair had grown since she'd seen him last. And as he got closer, she could make out how unique his eyes were—gray with just a ring of brown around the pupil.

"Oh. Well…" Meril paused. She didn't know why she felt the need to make conversation with him. He was a Slytherin, and an annoying one at that. She had learned that much just from their first meeting. "I met Trey and Jesse…from your band."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. They're nice."

"Well, I like them anyway." He was still watching her, a small smirk playing on his lips.

"Seriously? Do you want something?"

"I want a lot of things. But no, nothing from you." He sighed and dug his hands into his pockets.

"Is there a reason you are still standing there then?"

"Only because you are."

"Well could you move then?"

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

Meril blinked, unsure if she had heard him correctly. "Excuse me?"

"Do you have a boyfriend?" he repeated, this time taking great care to enunciate each syllable. "I thought I said it pretty clearly."

"Why?"

"I'm just curious. You seem very cozy with those Weasleys," he commented. As was expected from Slytherins, his tone took on an air of distaste at the name. It made Meril's blood boil.

"_Those_ Weasleys just happen to be very good people," she said curtly, "and a family I am very close to. So you would do well not to insult them."

Caleb blinked in surprise. "How did I—"

"It was your tone. You stupid Slytherins are all the same."

"Actually," he said, his tone no longer playful, "we aren't. I thought we went over this last time we met. But, fine. If you don't wish to associate with a _Slytherin_, I won't keep you. Go on, on your way then! Just prove that you _Gryffindors_ are all the same."

Meril would have walked off, but his last words made her stop cold. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you're all bigots, aren't you?"

"Hey, so are Sly—"

"Oh, don't pull the Mudblood business on me. Yes, yes, _some _Slytherins are very into that whole blood-purity thing, which doesn't even make sense to me. Even Slytherins have Muggle in them. But who came up with that nonsense about _all _Slytherins believing that? I'll bet you anything it was a Gryffindor. Not to mention you're all big meat-heads. You think you're better than anyone—can do anything you want just because you're 'brave.' Slytherins are full of pride; we're cunning and sly. We may hurt people to get what we want, but…our houses are the same, aren't they? Gryffindors just get the good reputation because of their tolerance for Muggles."

When Meril said nothing, Caleb smiled that cocky smile of his, considering this a victory. "So, about that question of mine…?"

"I have to get changed." Meril shoved past him; he stood looking after her, a smirk still playing on his lips.

"Think about what I said, and you'll find it's true. Give it time, Meril Lizlow—you'll grow to like me soon enough."

"Wouldn't bank on it."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

When Meril told Trey and Jesse about her encounter, at first, they laughed. That was all. They just laughed.

Meril wasn't sure how to take this.

"Don't mind him," Trey eventually said. "He just likes to bother people. When I first met him…well, I really didn't like him at all. He did that same sort of thing to me, too. That's just…that's Caleb for you. You'll like him, if you give him the chance. I know you will."

"Yeah, well, I don't think I want to give him the chance. A _Slytherin. _Just…no. It doesn't work for me. Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws…I like them. Nice people. But…it just doesn't work."

"Hey, don't knock it till you try it," Rome said sagely. "My best friend is in Slytherin."

Meril's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"Yeah! Gabriel Wilm. Of course, I've known him since I was two…but still, it's proof that not _all_ Slytherins are bad. He's a very nice guy. Just…very…underhanded, I suppose."

"Well, I guess not everyone fits into the house they are sorted into. Not completely anyway. Like Amy Smith! Total Slytherin, yet she's in Ravenclaw. I don't get it."

"I don't, either," Jesse said. "She's a big dishonor to our house. At least in my eyes anyway." Meril had forgotten he was a Ravenclaw.

"And Jennifer Crisp, too!" Meril exclaimed. "I mean, maybe you guys know her better than me and I am not getting the full picture, but she just doesn't seem like a Hufflepuff to me."

Cora's face fell for the first time since Meril met her. "Don't even get me started on Jennifer Crisp," she grumbled.

"Yeah, don't," Heather advised, appearing out of nowhere. She had gone off to prefect duty a couple of hours earlier. "We're about to pull into the station. But, it's funny I should come in when you were talking about her. There is something I think you should all see. Get what you need and follow me."

She stood patiently as her friends all gathered their things. Meril scooped Pistachio into her arms and was ready; everything else was packed safely away into her trunk, which she knew would be taken back to the castle by someone else.

"Hurry!" Heather urged. She started down the corridor and Meril followed right at her heels.

"What are you showing us?" she asked, but Heather just shushed her.

"You'll see! Now everyone, quiet and just look."

The seven slowed in front of a compartment. Heather turned to make it look like they were having a conversation; the others followed her lead, all the while discreetly peering into the compartment.

Jennifer Crisp sat inside. She looked…different. Her skin was tanner, her hair longer and glossier, falling in neat curls down her back. But there was something else…something _bigger_ different about her. She looked happy. There was a glow about her features—her eyes sparkled and she was actually _smiling._

Meril was wondering what could have initiated these changes when Heather nudged her. She pointed at the boy sitting next to Jennifer—he had long brown hair sticking up at odd angles, royal blue eyes, and high cheekbones. His nose and mouth were proportionate to the rest of his face. He wasn't disfigured or marred in anyway. He was, in, actuality, quite handsome. It was just _wrong._

And not because only guys Meril liked—like the Weasley twins—or knew—like of the boys she just met—were allowed to be good looking. No, this was wrong because he had his arm around Jennifer's shoulder and he was holding her hand.

Over Christmas, most people had just gotten gifts which could be bought. Some even got experiences to enrich their lives. But, in Meril's opinion, Jennifer got the best gift of all—another human being who could tolerate her existence.

And, as usual, only one thought came to Meril's mind as she saw this: _Oh boy, I can't wait until the boys hear this._

* * *

**a/n **Hey! Sorry this took so long to get out. It has been done for at least a month, but when I tried to put it up Fanfiction was having some issues. Then I got to busy to try again, and when I finally did the document manager was doing all sorts of weird things. So, now, FINALLY, I am getting it up. I hope you enjoy :) Hopefully I will get to working on the next chapter shortly, since it is Spring Break!! Whooo! I do have other things, too, to work on though. So...we'll see :) I am getting into like a Harry Potter mood but I am really trying to work on this original story of mine.

Anyway, that is enough babbling from me! Happy Easter, if you celebrate it and happen to be looking at this today...which is Easter :) Happy ending of Passover if you are Jewish :) And if you are not celebrating anything, well then....just have a good day.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo


	33. Questions

**Chapter Thirty-Two—**  
Questions

* * *

"_No_!"

"You can't be serious!"

"There's no bloody way in 'ell!"

"I swear it's true! I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Well, I have been thinking that you needed to get your eyes checked; now I'm positive."

Meril turned and glared at George. "My eyes are just fine, thank you. Besides, it wasn't just me who saw it. We all did."

"Hufflepuffs have never been all there, if you know what I mean," Fred commented with a wink.

"There was also a Ravenclaw sitting with us. What do you guys have to say about that?"

"Well, they'll never admit they're wrong!" Lee exclaimed.

"Sorry, Meril, but he's right. There is just absolutely _no way _that **any** guy could be daft enough to—"

Meril grabbed George's head between her hands and forced it towards the Hufflepuff table. Jennifer was seated at one of the ends with her head bowed down as she leaned towards a boy. Her fingers were laced through his on the table.

"So, Georgie boy," Meril said, releasing his head and turning back towards her food, "how are my eyes now?"

"Merlin, I feel as if my whole world has just shifted! I never believed it was possible for someone so incredibly idiotic to exist!"

"That poor bloke doesn't know what he's gotten into," Fred whispered hoarsely. He gravely shook his head and turned away, too sickened by the sight to look at it anymore.

"I told you," Meril said smugly.

"I'm sorry we doubted you," Lee said. He stole another glance towards the Hufflepuff table and shuddered. "That is too horrible to even make up."

"Apology accepted." Meril grinned broadly at them, pleased now that they believed what she had told them, but even more pleased that they found it as appalling as she did. Now all she wanted was to figure out who that boy was. He looked familiar, and yet…

"So, what are you girls talking about?" Alicia asked, interrupting Meril's train of thought. The Chaser smiled brightly at each of them, a playful twinkle in her eye.

Ignoring her 'girl' comment, Fred and George answered, "Jennifer," in their creepy twin unison.

Alicia raised an eyebrow. "Jennifer, really? That's surprising. Is there anything interesting to say about her?"

"She has a boyfriend," Lee offered.

"No!" Alicia exclaimed.

"It's true!" Lee exclaimed. "Meril saw it with her very eyes!"

"What did Meril see?" Angelina asked, joining in on the conversation with mild interest.

"Jennifer Crisp found herself a boyfriend over break," Meril answered. No one but her—and the people she had been sitting with—seemed to know anything about it. She felt so powerful, sharing this information with everyone.

"Oh, yeah. I saw them," Angelina said with a nod.

So much for Meril feeling powerful.

"It's pretty foul, isn't it?" Fred said, his nose curling up in distaste.

"Oh, I don't know," Angelina replied, shrugging. "I mean, what do you all have against her, anyway? Sure, she isn't the most pleasant person, but she's barely done anything to any of you. And besides, there has to be _some_ redeeming factor in her if she could land a boy _that_ tasty."

"Amen to that!" Alicia agreed. She was staring intensely at the nameless boy, studying him. By the sounds of it, he was very agreeable looking.

"Oh, and you were sounding so sensible," Meril sighed. "Angie, you disappoint me. It's supposed to be just Al who freaks out about guys like that."

"Hey, I am allowed to appreciate beauty, too," Angelina retorted, doing her best to suppress her smile.

Lee scowled and looked back at the guy. "He's not that good looking. I mean, I've seen better looking blokes."

"Oh, have you?" Meril and Alicia exchanged looks, trying and failing to hold back their laughter.

"Oh, get off it," Lee huffed. He pushed away his empty plate. "I'm going up to bed. I'll see you all in the morning." He cast one more bitter look at Jennifer's boyfriend and hurried off to bed. The twins swallowed the last of their food and followed after him.

"Looks like someone's upset," Alicia sang.

"It isn't my fault. I am allowed to express my opinions about people if I so choose. And I have done nothing to lead Lee on; I have tried only to chase him off, but it doesn't work. Maybe this will finally get my point across."

"Angie," Meril began, but Angelina immediately interrupted.

"Meril, I _know_ he's a good guy. And I do like him. I'm just…not interested. For nearly five years now I have been telling him that, but he still pursues me. At this point I thought it was just a joke to bother me. I guess not." She sighed, brushing her black hair from her face.

"Have you actually tried telling him you aren't interested?" Meril asked. She was doing her best not to sound upset about the whole thing, but it was hard. Lee was one of her closest friends, and as obsessive as he was about it, he really did care about Angelina; Meril couldn't help but feel that there had to be some reason that he was still trying. She had to have given him some sign, even accidental.

In response to her question, Meril just received a look. "Really, Meril? Think about who you are talking to before you ask that sort of thing."

Meril blinked a few times at the chaser. "Is that supposed to give me an answer? Because it isn't. That cleared absolutely nothing up for me."

Angelina squirmed a little uncomfortably. "Well…I may have mentioned it once? I just don't want to hurt him. So I just…hint. And, well, the fact that I haven't said yes to him once yet is a pretty clear sign!"

"Well, it is difficult to say with Lee. He gets what he wants out of things." Meril shrugged and shoved her plate away from her. "I'm going up to bed. It's been a long day. Are either of you coming?"

"Yeah, just hold on a second," Alicia said. As she stood, she put her last bit of pie in her mouth. "Mm! Delicious! Come on, Angie. We got some beauty sleep to catch up on."

"Humph, maybe you do, but I'm just fine," Angelina replied, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

"You may want to recheck that," Alicia retorted playfully. "I don't think you have looked in a mirror recently."

"Unlike some people, I don't _need_ to look in a mirror to know that I'm **beautiful**!"

Meril laughed, shaking her head as she linked arms with the two Chasers. "Oh, how you two make me laugh. I missed you guys."

* * *

It was still nighttime when Meril woke up. Moonlight streamed in bright through the small dorm window. Meril could see each of her roommates sleeping comfortably in their beds; she could hear their heavy breathing. Everyone was fast asleep.

Carefully, Meril pulled herself out from under the covers. A blast of cold air hit her and she scrambled to find a robe to slip into. Then, snatching her wand from her nightstand, she crept down the spiral staircase to the Common Room.

"_Lumos,"_ she whispered, casting a light over the dark room. The fire had completely burned out by now, but Meril still went to go sit by it with some faint hope it would warm her.

Earlier, she had arranged with Fred to meet down here. She just hoped that he remembered to wake up. She knew how heavily he slept.

Meril kept her wand slightly raised so that she could see if anyone came down to join her. For several minutes, everything remained still. Meril was beginning to lose hope when she heard a faint pattering—like the sound of feet slapping against stone.

"Meril? Is that you? Put that light down! It's burning my eyes!" Fred grumbled, emerging at the staircase.

"Sorry," Meril whispered back; she was grinning.

"Yeah, I can tell. How long were you waiting for me?"

"Just a few minutes. Not too long, really."

"Good. I'd hate to keep you waiting." Fred dropped down on the sofa beside Meril, a smile spread across his tired face. "Hey."

"Hello."

"I'm liking the hair. Honestly."

"Oh, I know. It is quite the look. Try not to be too jealous." Meril could only imagine what she looked like. She hadn't bothered looking in the mirror before she came down. Alicia wasn't always the heaviest sleeper, and if she woke up with Meril fixing herself up, she'd be suspicious. Besides, she was too tired to do anything. It was the middle of the night. What did it matter? She was just going back to sleep afterwards anyway. But, so that hopefully he couldn't see it so well anymore, she lifted her wand back up and said, "_Nox_."

Fred's face broke out into a grin and the room was filled with his soft laughter. "I missed you today."

"I missed you, too," Meril whispered. She shifted so that she could lean against him. Fred draped his arm around her shoulder, nuzzling her head closer to him. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

"So, did you tell Angelina and Alicia? About us?" Fred wondered, breaking the silence.

"No. Why would I have?"

"Oh, I don't know…I was just curious. I'd just like be open about this. Or at least be able to tell George. It feels weird not telling him."

"I know. I'm sorry. It's just…" Meril struggled to find an excuse. She didn't want to say that it just felt wrong for George to know. Everyone else in the world could know—she didn't care. But George…She twisted the ring he had given her around her finger, as she often did when she was stressed. "Well, I'd like some time for this to be just about us. Once our friends know, I'm sure they'll constantly be teasing us or something. And it's nice to just…well to be just you and me."

"I understand. And I agree. Lee would be giving us trouble all of the time. And Heather, too, once everyone else knew. But George wouldn't. Not if we asked him not to."

"Are you sure he wouldn't?" Meril asked doubtfully. While she was trying to get Fred off of the idea of telling his twin, she still really didn't believe he wouldn't tease them. It was George, after all. He loved to tease.

"No, he probably would even if we asked him not to. But it's still George…"

"I know. Don't worry. Soon we can tell him and everyone else." Once Meril figured out how to deal with George knowing, that was. Which, by the sounds of it, she was going to have to get to work on. Even more than that, though, she wanted to figure out why the idea bothered her so much. She twisted the ring thoughtfully.

"I'm not worried," Fred murmured, bending his face close to hers. "Do you know me? I'm Fred Weasley—_King_ of Not Worrying."

"I know," Meril replied. She glanced up at his eyes and smiled. He leaned in closer, gently pressing his lips against hers. Meril quickly responded, pressing her lips against his.

Fred's hand slipped from Meril's shoulder down to her waist. Meril reached across his body and grabbed onto his shoulder, simultaneously climbing up onto her knees. She ran her other hand through his messy hair as he played with the ends of hers. All the while, their lips did not part from each other. Meril ran her tongue against Fred's bottom lip. Just as she was about to slip it in through his parted lips, Fred pulled away.

"Wait," he panted. He squinted against the darkness, searching for unfamiliar shapes. Lifting Meril's wand, he whispered, "_Lumos_," and continued to look around, but there was nothing there. Frowning, he handed Meril back her wand. "I could have sworn I heard something."

Meril placed the wand down on the coffee table. Returning to a normal sitting position, she asked, "What was it?"

"I dunno. It sounded like someone getting out of bed or something."

Meril sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "We should probably be going back to sleep anyway." Yawning, she got to her feet. Grabbing her lighted wand, she headed back towards her dormitory. "Come on; I don't want to leave you in the dark."

Fred loped over to Meril and grabbed her free hand, lacing her fingers between his. Meril's stomach gave a small lurch—in a good way—and she grinned up at him.

"You go ahead up first," she offered. "I'll hold the light here for you so you don't trip and fall."

"As I recall, it is you who has a problem with stairs in the dark—not me," Fred playfully retorted.

"Yeah, yeah. Just, please—go up the stairs before I grow a beard."

"Now that _would_ be a feat," Fred mused. "No matter, we'll discuss that tomorrow. Good night." He stooped down and gave her a light kiss on the lips.

"'Night, Freddie."

She watched as he ascended the staircase. A minute or so after he was out of sight, Meril turned and slowly climbed the staircase up to her own dorm. As she approached the doorway, she whispered, "_Nox_," and the light went out. Thankfully, the pale moonlight was still shining in through the window. Meril took advantage of this and sprinted to her bed.

She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

* * *

"I need to know who he is."

"Who _who _is? Meril, sweetie, I know I am good at reading your mind, but sometimes you need to be a little clearer than that. It is far too early for guessing games."

"Jennifer's victim, of course!"

"Oh, right. See, if it were a little later and I had some food in my stomach, I would have known what you were talking about."

"If you had woken up in time for breakfast, this wouldn't be a problem. And besides, it isn't that early. You just went to bed too late."

Heather smiled sheepishly in response. "Cedric and I had a lot to catch up on, okay? And then I had some essays to look over. I had no time for sleep."

"How is it that I managed to get all of my work done over break, and yet _you _didn't?"

Heather paused thoughtfully for a moment outside of the greenhouse door. Finally opening the door, she said, "I work hard on quality, and you just try to get it done."

"I resent that!" Meril screeched, following the blonde into the greenhouse.

"But it's true, isn't it?"

"Well, no…not always. And besides, I know for a fact that you aren't always so concerned about quality, either!"

"Details, details—so inconsequential, really." Heather flashed Meril a bright grin as she slipped her gloves over her hands. "But, I'll bet you money that the next essays we get, you'll end up putting off until the last minute and won't be able to get it done."

"You're a bit snobbish when you're tired, aren't you? Or is that just the prefect getting to your head?" Meril said irritably, narrowing her eyes at her friend. In the silence following her question, she became acutely aware of how empty it was in there. "Where is everyone?"

Heather put down the tray she had taken out and looked around curiously. "That's odd…Are we in the wrong greenhouse, maybe?"

"No, we're in Greenhouse Two, just like usual…"

"Are you sure she didn't say Greenhouse Three?"

"She wouldn't have announced anything before the holiday...Besides, why would this door be unlocked if we were supposed to be somewhere else?"

"She could have just forgotten. It happens, you know," Heather reasoned.

"Yes, you have a point…" Meril paused, suddenly reminded of breakfast that morning. After they had eaten, the twins had wandered off in what seemed a peculiar direction, but Meril hadn't questioned it then, just assuming they were up to their usual no-good. Now, however, she was beginning to wonder if it had been such a peculiar way after all.

"Heather…what day is it?"

Heather furrowed her eyebrow in thought for a moment before slowly replying, "It's Tuesday, isn't it?"

Hearing it was all Meril needed to know that it wasn't true. "No, it's bloody _Monday_! That means we _don't _have Herbology first, and we're _incredibly _late for our first class!"

"Oh bloody hell!" Heather screamed. She didn't even bother putting the tray back on its shelf before running for the door. Meril quickly took off after her.

"This is bloody terrific!" Meril grunted as the two attempted to run through the deep snow back up to the castle. "First day back from holiday, and I am already in trouble."

"Maybe your teacher will let you off easy," Heather remarked doubtfully.

"I have McGonagall first!"

"Well, in that case, you better hurry up!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!"

The two finally reached the front steps. Meril sprinted up them two at a time and practically threw herself into the castle as soon as she got the door open. Without bothering to wipe the snow from her shoes, she called out a brief, "Bye!" to Heather and ran off towards Transfiguration.

McGonagall was less than pleased when Meril stormed into the room, panting for breath, in the middle of her lecture. The professor's sharp green eyes narrowed in their familiar way; Meril knew what came next.

"Detention, Miss Lizlow, and fifteen points from Gryffindor."

"Fifteen?" Meril shrieked, her voice abnormally shrill.

"One for every minute late you are."

"I resent that! I was only thirteen minutes late!" Meril protested. "If you are going to take a point out for every minute late I am, than you really shouldn't be rounding off like that. Especially since I'm in your house!"

"Fine, fine," McGonagall huffed. "Thirteen points fro Gryffindor for your tardiness."

"Thank you!" Meril sighed, sinking into her seat beside Fred.

"And two points off for talking back to me. Now, where were we?"

* * *

f

"Hey, so remember when you guys saw me and Heather going the wrong way after breakfast?"

Fred and George exchanged looks before one of them hesitantly answered, "Yes?"

"Why didn't you, oh, I don't know—mention it?"

"We thought that maybe you two were just wandering around before class," Fred replied, sounding unconvinced.

"Because that is something we generally do," Meril sarcastically replied.

"Well…Meril…it sort of is."

"Still! It would have been nice if you had mentioned it. We thought it was Tuesday! We went all the way down to the Greenhouses before we realized it and we had to run back! We could have been early for our classes, too…" Meril sighed. She would bet anything Heather hadn't gotten a detention.

"Oh, did you guys get locked out of the Greenhouse?" George asked. He sounded a little too pleased about the possibility.

"No, we got in just fine. It was just when we realized no one else was actually there that things seemed a little suspicious."

"Oh, well…" George drifted off. "It would have been funnier if you had been locked out."

"I'll remember that next time you go outside. Maybe I could arrange a little something for you."

"Oh, could you?" A large smile spread across George's over-eager face. "That sounds lovely."

"I agree." The three rounded a corner and Meril stopped dead, quickly pulling the twins back around the corner. "Look!" she hissed, pointing at the couple which they had almost run into.

"Seriously, who _is_ he?" Fred exclaimed. He crouched down beside Meril, his shoulder brushing against hers and sending chills down her back. "I don't think I've ever seen him before." He paused thoughtfully. "Have I?"

George leaned over the two and peered around the corner. "I'm not sure. He looks sort of familiar…He's a Slytherin! Did we know he was a Slytherin?" he whispered.

"No, we didn't…I don't think…"Meril replied. She squinted, trying to get a better look at the receding couple. "What the devil is a Slytherin doing with a Hufflepuff?"

"Beats the hell out of me," Fred commented. "Do you think he's in our year?"

"I dunno. You'd think we'd know who he was then," George replied with a shrug.

"Yes, you would _think _that, but it _is_ a Slytherin we are talking about here. How much attention do we really pay to Slytherins? I mean, I can really only name a handful of them…"

"And he isn't one of the handful?"

Meril turned and stared blankly at the twin hovering over her. "I think I would have mentioned it if I knew who he was."

"Well maybe he's an Animorphus or whatever those people who can change what they look like are called!"

"Metamorphmagus," Fred corrected.

"Yeah, that!"

"Well, if he _was_ a metamorphmagus, which I highly doubt, I still wouldn't recognize him, now would I?"

George was silent for a moment before slowly responding, "No; no, I suppose you wouldn't…"

"_Someone _has to know who he is," Meril sighed, attempting to get to her feet.

"Know who whom is?"

Meril gave a start, toppling over into Fred, who was still crouched over. Caleb Stinson stood a few feet away, watching the three curiously, a look of bewildered amusement gracing his features.

After catching her breath, Meril's face lit up in realization. "_You're_ in Slytherin!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, very good!" Caleb mocked.

Meril glared at him, which only caused him to smirk even more. "I had a point to that exclamation. I already know what house you're in—you know that."

Caleb's face fell as he remembered their last conversation as well. "What was your point then?"

"Do you know Jennifer Crisp?"

"I know who she is."

"Do you know who the bloke is that she is with?"

"Yes I do."

Meril's face lit up and she ran over to him, clasping his arms eagerly. "Then you can tell us!"

"Yes I could."

"So? Who is he?" Meril's fingers dug into Caleb's arms as she stared up at him expectantly. Why hadn't she thought of this before? He was the only Sytherin she talked to even a little—of course he would know who the guy was!

"Oh, I'm not telling you."

Meril's fingers dug tighter into his skin, her large smile frozen on her face. Through her clenched teeth, she managed to say, "What?"

"Should have expected that," Fred muttered to George; his twin nodded fervently.

Caleb's eyes narrowed and his attention snapped towards the twins. "What is that supposed to mean?" he asked hotly.

"What do you mean you aren't telling me? Why? Why won't you tell me?" Meril insisted, demanding Caleb's attention once more.

The Slytherin's deadly expression softened and he smiled playfully at the desperate girl before him. "That ruins the fun, doesn't it? Try to find out some other way; if you still don't know next time I see you, maybe—_maybe_—I'll tell you." He grimaced, prying Meril's claws from his arms.

"That's…almost cruel."

He smirked again—the famous Slytherin smile—and glared at the twins. His voice was almost malicious as he said, "Yes, well…I am a Slytherin, aren't I?"

The twins glared back at him, their eyes cold. Meril frowned.

Caleb turned to walk away, but paused. "Oh, and Meril?"

"Yes?"

"Might I suggest a pair of nail clippers? They really do wonders."

Meril scowled. "Just…leave! Please."

"I'm serious! I think I'm going to scar from that."

"Well then you have very delicate skin. I have stubby nails."

"Yes, maybe in comparison to a _wolf_."

"How would you know? Have you ever been clawed by a wolf?"

Caleb rolled his eyes and tried to pass his laugh off as a cough. "Just really think about it. I think it would benefit a lot of people."

"Maybe if you tell me who the guy is I will."

"Bribery will get you nowhere with me, Miss Lizlow. I am the King of Bribery; you can't play that game with me. Next time I see you, though…maybe." He grinned, winked, and walked away, leaving Meril alone with the twins once more.

"I don't like him," Fred announced as soon as he thought Caleb was out of earshot.

"He's not so bad," Meril said with a shrug. "Well…sometimes." She couldn't help remembering their conversation on the train the night before and how contemptuously he had mentioned Fred and George.

"How can you say that? The guy is a total prat!"

"Come on, he was just playing! He'll tell us!" Meril insisted. She wasn't exactly sure why she was defending Caleb, yet she found herself unable to stop herself.

"Playing?" Fred snorted. "No, he wasn't 'playing.' I don't like it. I don't like _him._ If his band wasn't so good, I never would have put up with him at your party!"

"Why? What did he do?"

"Oh, he was just very snobbish and disdainful and…judgey. He couldn't understand why we were going to so much trouble for someone unless we were in love with them and—"

He stopped short and fell silent, his face growing red. Meril fidgeted uncomfortably and ducked her head so that her hair formed a curtain to cover her scarlet face. George cleared his throat and looked away, his face possibly redder than anyone else's ever had been in history.

"But we set him straight!" George managed to exclaim, his voice somewhat strained.

"Oh. Well…I'm glad to hear it." Meril cleared her throat. "So…um…shall we get going? To lunch then? It should be about over by now!"

"Yeah, sounds great! Let's go."

* * *

Heather was in absolute shock, it was obvious. As Meril and the twins were finding their way to the Great Hall at last, Heather was already wandering out. It was almost as if she was floating as she walked towards them; her jaw was hanging open, her eyes were glazed.

"Meril? Babs! Liz! Is that you?"

Shocked, or she had gotten hold of a spiked pumpkin juice.

"Heather? What happened to you?" Meril asked, rushing over to her friend. Fred and George hovered behind her, but she dismissed them, allowing them to go off to get some lunch.

"He gave me a detention. He gave _me_ a detention!"

"What? Who? Heather, who gave you a detention?"

"Snape—that bloody git!"

"Why would he give you a detention? What happened?"

"Well, you know how we thought we had Herbology first?"

"Yeah…"

"Turns out I really had Potions first. Snape isn't as understanding as you'd think he would be."

Meril's face fell and she stared blankly at her best friend. "Snape? Understanding? Are you sure you're right in the head? Get a hold of some bad pumpkin juice?"

"What? Meril, what are you talking about? Honestly, I don't get you sometimes…"

Meril did her best to restrain the snort, but she couldn't help herself. Heather was acting like she was drunk, and she thought _Meril _wasn't making sense?

"This detention really shook you up, didn't it?"

"I can't remember the last time I got a detention! I've had points deducted, sure…but detention? No! I've always been good…or good enough that no one suspected me, anyway…"

"You didn't do anything wrong; you were just late. I am sure Snape just overreacted; he always does with anyone who isn't a Slytherin."

"He didn't yell; he was just very snide…When I explained what happened, he just made fun of me…said that was why I was put in Hufflepuff and not Ravenclaw; I'm not sure I know what he means…He took twenty-five points from me for tardiness, too!"

"Aw, Heath…Come on, let's sit down." Meril sympathetically rubbed her friend's back and led her to the staircase.

"I've been in a daze since then. I haven't been doing anything right; I feel like such an idiot."

"Everyone has their off days."

"I can't believe I have a detention!"

"It isn't so bad. I have one, too!"

Heather pursed her lips and just stared at Meril. "I got a detention from _Snape_, the most unreasonable git in the entire universe, throughout all of history. Don't tell me it isn't that bad."

So she was finally coming back to her senses. That was a relief.

"You'll be fine. Look, I have to go to History of Magic now. I will talk to you later." Meril gave Heather another pat on the shoulder and slowly rose to her feet.

"Okay, fine. I'll see you later."

Meril smiled gently at her friend, sympathetic to her plight. She remembered her first detention. Of course, that had been four years ago, and she had been behaving quite poorly. Anyway, she had been quite shook up about it back then. Of course, now she was frightfully used to it.

Meril had agreed to meet up with Fred before class. Hopefully, the two of them would both be early enough that no one else would be there (after all, no one ever went to _History of Magic _early) and they could be in private.

She got to the class, located on the other side of the school, more quickly than she had thought she would. Without realizing it, she must have been speed walking. Which would have been a good idea, had Fred actually already been there. As it was, Meril was left shivering against one of the cold stone walls as she waited for the Weasley boy.

Minutes dragged on like hours; Meril was growing antsy. She was just about to leave when he arrived, out of breath and his bag carelessly thrown over his shoulder. A smile automatically spread across Meril's face and she ran up to him, flinging her arms around him as if it had been years since she had seen him last.

"Sorry if I'm late," he murmured, gently caressing her jaw with his thumb. His face was awfully close to Meril's. Somehow, although there was some sort of stain at the corner of his lips, his breath smelt fresh when it hit Meril's nose.

"It's okay," she whispered, laughing. "You're such a messy eater."

Fred cocked an eyebrow. "You're one to talk, missy."

Meril just shook her head, gently rubbing the stain away with her thumb. "There; perfect." She kissed the corner of his mouth, as if giving it her seal of approval.

Fred kissed her nose in return. "Perfect," he repeated, leaning in closer. He kissed her sweetly on the mouth before pulling away and stepping back. "I really hate this, Mer."

"I know. I do, too."

"It's not the same for you, though. I mean, he's my _brother. _My twin! I hate not telling him. I hate that I had to lie to him about having explosive diarrhea in order to run down here and meet you. We need to tell him, even if we don't tell anyone else! Heather knows; why not George?"

Meril fell silent. She couldn't tell Fred why she didn't want George to know; she wasn't even sure herself. All she knew was that it was a bad idea. But how could she really tell him that without it sounding just…weird.

Thankfully, Meril was saved from having to say anything to him when Angelina, Alicia, and some Slytherins joined them in the corridor. Meril half-smiled at Fred, shrugging her shoulders, and waited in silence for everyone else to turn up. She didn't even notice when Jennifer Crisp's poor, stupid boyfriend showed up, standing barely three feet away from her.

* * *

That night, Meril was sitting in the dorm with Angelina and Alicia, diligently working through the loads of homework she had already received, in order to avoid Fred. She wanted to see him—honestly she did. But if she was with him, he would try to convince her that they needed to tell George, and she couldn't deal with that if she didn't have an argument—or an answer—ready.

"Well, I'm exhausted! I'm going to bed," Alicia announced through a monstrous yawn. She threw her books aside, grabbed her pajamas, and disappeared to go get ready. Angelina soon followed suit, but Meril continued to work through her pile of work.

Hayley and Caitlin came up from the Common Room and gone to bed soon after, and Meril was surrounded by a chorus of snoring, tempting her to sleep. Not this time, though. No—she was going to get as much work done as possible. She didn't want to wait until the last minute and just prove Heather right.

What did she know, anyway? Who was she to judge Meril that way? Thinking about their conversation that morning still made Meril's blood boil. She was going to win that bet.

What exactly _was_ the bet?

Essays!

Heather had said she would bet money that Meril would put off the next essay she got until the last minute and not be able to get it done. Lucky Heather, Meril had gotten an essay the very next thing from Transfiguration—very possibly Meril's worst class. And the topic was something obscure, too. Meril didn't remember McGonagall talking about it at all, though that could have just been because she wasn't paying attention out of spite.

All McGonagall had really said about the essay that it was about Vanishing Spells and should be two to three parchments long. It wasn't nearly as bad as an essay they had had in the beginning of the year, the one about the Inanimatus Conjurus spell—that one had been absolutely dreadful—but it was still quite lengthy for something Meril knew absolutely nothing about. What was worse, there were absolutely no parameters, so Meril couldn't even make stuff up based on the questions.

Nevertheless, she needed to get this done.

Heaving a huge sigh, Meril pulled out a scroll, dipped her quill in her inkwell, and continued to stare at the blank parchment.

This wasn't going to work.

She needed books—information. Meril padded over to her trunk and pulled out her textbook, _Transforming the Mind with Advanced Transfiguration_ by Spencer Hobartallion, and flipped to the index. As she suspected, there was a section on Vanishing Spells. However, it was all very basic—or at least more basic than this essay would require. It was more than advanced for Meril though. Just skimming over it made her mind swim.

"I need to go to the library," Meril muttered. She carelessly threw the book back into her trunk, grabbed a pair of slippers, and hurried downstairs. She knew that she wasn't supposed to be sneaking around, but this needed to be done. And if she didn't get to it now, she would just let it slip out of her mind.

She was almost out of the portrait hole when she noticed someone curled up by the fire. The flickering flames cast an awful shadow on him, but she still recognized the figure.

"Hey there, Fred," she whispered. She could have just snuck on by—he hadn't noticed her—but she couldn't walk by him and not say anything. It was _Fred._

"Meril? I had a feeling you might come down."

"Yeah. I was just headed to the library. I need to get some books for my Transfiguration essay."

"Really?"

He sounded incredulous; Meril couldn't blame him. This was very unlike her. Well, not the sneaking part—that was perfectly believable. But going off to the library in the middle of the night to work on an essay…it was out of the question.

"Yes."

"Interesting…Well," he grunted as he got to his feet, "I'm coming with you."

"You sure? You seem tired."

"Oh, please! I am never too tired for this!" He flashed Meril one of his most charming smiles. "Now, let's go." He grabbed her hand and Meril's heart jumpstarted.

The two had to travel mostly by memory. The torch light was much too dim to really be sure what corridor they were in. Meril was quickly very appreciative of the fact that Fred had been there; he was a genius at directions, and he seemed to know every nook and cranny of the castle by heart. Meril, on the other hand, would have been lost in two seconds and may not have made it back to Gryffindor Tower before morning.

"_Alohamora,_" Fred whispered, pointing his wand at the lock on the library door. There was a 'click' confirming the spell worked; Meril reached out and carefully turned the doorknob. The door creaked open and the two slipped inside, carefully closing the door after them.

Meril felt around for Fred's hand before continuing. She wanted to be away from the doorway before lighting anything, just in case Filch or Mrs. Norris happened to be passing by.

"_Lumos_," she whispered, feeling she was a safe distance away; Fred echoed her and the two set off in search of Transfiguration books.

The great thing about getting started on an essay so early was that all of the good books were still there because no one else had bothered to work on theirs yet. There were whole books just on vanishing spells—Meril was sure to grab some of those—and many others that had plenty of information on it.

Fred and Meril took three books each, deciding they could share information. Anything else would be too obvious. So, with books weighing down their pockets, they departed from the library.

"_Nox,_" they whispered in unison just outside the library door. The darkness was overwhelming; Meril felt lost already.

Fred confidently grabbed Meril's hand and set off down the hallway. Now that they had gotten there, it seemed as if they didn't have to worry about getting back. No one ever got caught _after _achieving something, after all.

"What was that?"

"Oh, sorry; I must have kicked you," Fred muttered apologetically.

"No; you didn't kick me. I kicked something, I thought."

"Oh. Your imagination must be working up again. Poor Mer-Mer, it's way past your bedtime," he teased, playfully poking her side.

"No," Meril scowled. "I swear, there was something there. Sh!"

There was someone coming; she could hear footsteps echoing down the corridor. As quietly as possible, Meril led Fred back around the corner, found the darkest possible spot, and pressed against the wall. Fred wrapped his arms around her, trying to make them as compressed as possible.

Meril could barely breathe; she had never felt so nervous before. Maybe it was the adrenaline of sneaking around the castle at night, but she felt that it had something to do with Fred's body being so close to her. She could feel his heart crashing against his rib cage, and that made her heart rate quicken.

You'd think she had never kissed him the way she acted around him.

The footsteps moved passed them. Fred exhaled and stepped back. "That was close, huh?" he whispered excitedly, a large grin present on his freckled face.

"Yeah, it was," Meril breathed. "Let's just go."

"Sounds good to me." He clasped her small hand in his own larger one and led her back around the corner.

"You were right, Mrs. Norris," a familiar, snivelly voice snickered behind them.

Fred and Meril kept walking, determined not to get caught. It was probably just their imaginations over-working themselves. There was no way Filch had caught them. He had walked past them already.

"Where do you think you brats are going?" the old caretaker snapped. He started after them, the light from his lantern hitting their backs and casting large shadows on the ground.

They kept moving, faster now, trying to escape the cranky old caretaker. Fred made sharp turns every which way, trying to confuse Filch. Thankfully, he didn't move very quickly, despite the fact that he was a grouchy, sneaky old git.

"I think we're free," Fred whispered.

"STUDENTS! STUDENTS IN THE CORRIDOR!"

The voice was shriller than Filch's and it was much too close to be him.

Peeves.

The poltergeist hadn't bothered Meril at all that year. In fact, he had never bothered her. He highly respected Fred and George, and since Meril was so close to them, that respect extended to her as well. But here he was, ratting Fred and Meril out.

"Peeves!" Fred hissed. "Peeves, it's me—Fred."

"Oh, Fred! I didn't recognize you!" Peeves exclaimed, much too loudly. His voice echoed all around them.

"Peeves, we just threw Filch off our tail. Could we please just get back up to Gryffindor Tower?"

"We? Who's with you?" His horrid, transparent face came all too close to Meril's. She started backwards, but he kept even with her. "Queenie, is it? My, my! I knew she was back, but I hadn't seen her!" He was still talking much too loudly.

"Peeves—please?"

Peeves just grinned wickedly and flew off, screeching "Fred and Queenie sitting in a Tree" at the top of his lungs.

"Peeves has never bothered me before. I have actually quite liked him. I have to admit, though, that right now, I want to kill him."

"Welcome to the rest of the Hogwarts community," Meril mumbled.

"I'll get back at him for this. Filch knows who it is now."

"Great. C'mon, let's just get going before he finds us."

"Good idea."

"Do you think Peeves only acted that way because you weren't really causing trouble and he was annoyed by that?"

Fred thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Nah. I think he was just bored; probably hasn't been enough commotion for him, lately—especially with the holiday. He probably just wanted to rile things up. Still bloody annoying though."

"Yeah…"

The two continued on in silence, both listening and watching for any signs of Filch or his horrid cat. There was nothing; it was pretty unnerving. Filch never gave up on a chase.

"Crackers," Fred whispered as they approached the portrait of Sir Cadogan.

The portrait, grumbling about having been woken up, started to swing forward, but was stopped by a strained shout, "Wait! Don't!"

Filch shot out of the shadows, sweaty, out of breath, and looking incredibly angry.

"Bloody hell!" Meril exclaimed. They made it so far—they were _so close_ to making it out of this. But no—he had to have made it up here before them. She had no idea how he even achieved it—maybe he knew a shorter way?—but she was too frustrated to really care.

"Watch your tongue, Miss!" Filch snapped. "You two are in a lot of trouble now."

* * *

It was the first day after the holiday break, and Meril had managed to land herself two detentions and had lost a total of forty-five house points all by herself. It seemed almost as if it could be a new record. And, on top of that, Filch took the books she and Fred had nicked from the library, so she was left without any resources for her essay. As angry as it all made her, she couldn't help seeing the humor in it, either.

"…and then, just as the Sir Cadogan was swinging open, Filch jumped out of the shadows. I suppose we could have made a mad rush and scrambled through the small opening, but Sir Cadogan closed before we could!"

It was breakfast the next morning and Fred was telling everyone that could hear about their adventure the night before.

"Are you serious?" Scott Gunderson exclaimed. "That's bloody hysterical!"

"Meril, I think you have the worst luck," Shane O'Gorman commented, shaking his head with an amused smile on his face. "This sort of thing wouldn't have happened if it was just Fred or George."

"Oh, I don't think that's true," Meril disagreed. "I think it was just because of where we went. I mean, really. The only time I ever seem to get caught is if I am in the Library."

"That may have something to do with the fact that you've been banned from it," George observed. He hadn't found the story nearly as amusing as the rest of them had.

"You've been banned from the Library?" Scott exclaimed, his blue eyes widening in disbelief.

Meril turned towards him to answer; he flinched and looked away, as if afraid she was going to spit at him or something. Meril couldn't understand why he acted so peculiarly around her.

"Oh, and don't forget you get in trouble for being late to class, too!" Lee pointed out, snickering.

"I said get caught, not get in trouble," Meril scowled.

"Oh, speaking of that—I really think you should walk with me to Divination today," Shane said.

Meril narrowed her eyes at him. "Déjà vu…Have you said that before?"

"Um…I don't think so…"

"No! You have! I remember on my birthday you said we should walk up to Divination together and you would show me where Sir Codagan's portrait was. But…well I suppose I forgot. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Shane said sincerely. Something gave Meril the impression that he was used to that happening. "But today."

"Yeah, today." She smiled brightly at the green-eyed boy. It didn't last long, however, because she noticed Jennifer Crisp and her mystery man getting up from the Hufflepuff table.

"I have to go!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet. She was going to ask his name—she was tired of waiting and who knew when she was going to see Caleb again.

"Meril? Where are you going?"

"Don't worry about it!" Meril called after them. "Shane, I will meet you…here…before Divination!"

"We have Potions together first!"

"Oh. Um…well then I'll see you there soon!" Meril smiled at them all again, waved, and hurried out into the Entrance Hall, hoping that she wasn't too late to run up to them and…ask or something.

How would she go about that? It wasn't like she could just walk up to him; he would surely be with his…girlfriend...And, besides that, he was a Slytherin and she was a Gryffindor. They didn't just…walk up to each other. It was unheard of.

Well, besides Caleb. But that guy was just _strange_.

Also, she _should _know his name, and the fact that she didn't sort of made her seem like a self-involved snob.

There was really no good way. She would just have to suck it up and ask him.

Meril took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Hey!" she shouted, waving to the couple by the stairs. Before either could make sense of what was happening, Meril was pulled away by the neck of her robes to a little alcove under the stairs.

"What are you doing? Seriously, Meril, you are the _oddest_ girl I have ever had the displeasure to be acquainted with."

Caleb Stinson.

Of course.

Why was it that she was seeing him more these past three days than she had ever seen him in the years prior? It was like he was seeking her out or something, because she certainly wasn't seeking him out.

"Hello, Caleb."

"Were you seriously just going to walk up to them?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, first of all, they are being very couple-y and so should not be disturbed. You would think that you would know proper relationship etiquette, though maybe not, since you have never had a boyfriend."

"I have too had a boyfriend!" Meril protested indignantly, appalled and insulted that he thought she hadn't.

"Okay, right. Sure. Five-year-old relationships don't count, Meril."

"I know that! I had a boyfriend when I was gone and right now I—" She stopped dead, clamping her mouth shut. She had almost told _him _about Fred. No one but Heather knew, and she had almost told him! Never mind the fact that she _had_ told him about Steve, who no one besides Heather, her mother, and the people at camp had any idea about.

This boy was good.

"Right now you are what?"

"Nothing," Meril said a little too quickly.

Caleb looked at her suspiciously. "Right…Anyway, what was I saying?"

"You were reprimanding me I believe."

"Right! Secondly, you _hate _Jennifer and you don't even know the guy's name! Why on earth would you be shouting 'hello' to them?" Meril had no answer. "Exactly. Now, if you really want, I will tell you his name."

"Really?"

"Sure. But on one condition…"

Meril groaned, rolling her eyes. "Merlin, Caleb…What?"

"Make a better effort to know Slytherins. You may find that the decent Slytherin isn't as rare a breed as you think it is."

Meril considered silently for a moment. Then, sighing, she gave in. "Okay, okay. Fine! I feel sort of bad not knowing who they are anyway. If I am going to hate them, I should at least know their names, right?"

"Exactly! I am glad you are starting to—wait, no. Meril, that isn't the point of this."

"I don't care what your point to this is. I am _agreeing _to it, aren't I? Now tell me! The past…how long has it been? I mean I found out about him Sunday night…then that plus all of yesterday…plus today—"

"I get it! Shut up!"

"Fine!" Meril huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Thank you! His name is Jayden Abrams. Does it ring any bells?"

Meril fell silent, waiting for the bells to start ringing like crazy in her mind, but it was silent as well. "Not at all. Wow, I was sort of hoping I would go through this whole recognition thing. This is sort of disappointing."

"You disappoint me. I'm going before your stupid Gryffindor-ness rubs off on me."

Meril watched as he walked away, shaking his head. To her surprise, she felt almost sad to see him go, but she quickly shook off the feeling. She was not about to become friends with Caleb Stinson.

Now that she knew Jayden's name, there was really no point for her to stand around over here. So, shrugging, a smile on her face, she turned around to head off to Herbology class, but there was George. Her smile instantly grew.

"Georgie-poo!" she exclaimed, rushing over to him. "Walk to Herbology with me!"

"Um…sure. Can I just talk to you about something first?" He sounded strangely serious. Meril had the idea that he was finally going to tell her what had been bothering him the past couple of weeks.

"Of course. What's up?" she answered softly.

"Well, for a while now, I have been wondering. But it's your story that just made me come ask this." George's face was beet red and he was avoiding eye contact. His voice was barely audible and his words were somewhat slurred, making it hard to tell what he was saying.

"George?" Meril's stomach was in knots. She was so scared about what he was going to ask.

"Well, you and Fred seem to be spending an awful lot of time together and…Blimey, I must seem like a real idiot right now, eh?"

"No, not at all!" Meril assured him, her smile wavering.

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not! Really, George! Please, just ask me."

George took a deep breath and another round of butterflies flocked into Meril's stomach. "This is going to sound so bloody stupid…Is something going on with you and Fred?"

Meril had been expecting something along these lines, but nothing so spot on. Her stomach plummeted; her face fell. It took her a moment to reply, and even then it was forced. "No. No, George. Nothing at all is going on between me and Fred."

"Really?" An odd expression was on George's face; it wasn't disbelief or scrutiny of any kind, but Meril couldn't place what it was. However, the storm cloud over his head seemed to have passed and a smile was tugging at his lips.

A sound, something like a strangled 'uh-huh,' escaped Meril's mouth, but George didn't notice her hesitation. He just let out a big breath of air and started to laugh. Meril forced herself to laugh along with him, not wanting him to suspect anything more.

"Silly George!" she exclaimed, her voice strained. Her stomach was in knots again and she thought she might be sick.

"I'm sorry. I must have seemed like such a prat," he laughed. "Can we please just forget about this?"

"Of course!" Meril cried, almost too excited by the idea. "Er—anything you want, Georgie. Um…Let's get to Herbology, shall we?"

"If we have to," he replied, laughing again.

"And we do!" she laughed, her voice strained.

Why was it so hard for Meril to just tell him the truth? She didn't understand. All she knew was that when he asked her, she felt as if the world had just ended.

* * *

**a/n **So this chapter was long, and a logn time coming, too! I started it a long time ago, but just finally got back into writing it! And when I was planning it, I thought I would have nothing to put in it. Turns out, there was plenty enough to write. Holy, crap! It was thirty-something pages on word! Anyway, I am going to _start _the next chapter now, but who knows when it will be done. Hopefully soon, since I know some stuff that will be going into it. The problem is, I also want to write a chapter for Eternal Flame and The Irish Eyes, but I am ALSO trying to work on an original story.

Why does this always happen to me :/

Anyway! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Review?

xox


	34. Caught

**Chapter Thirty-Three—**  
Caught

* * *

"Shane! Where are you?" Meril called out at the end of Potions, eager to get away from the twins. She had been sitting between them, and while the two of them seemed perfectly at ease, to her, the tension had been palpable.

"I'm right here…" Shane replied; he was standing right behind her, and she could tell by the tone of his voice that he found her slightly moronic for not realizing that.

"Oh, hello," Meril said brightly. "Are you ready to go to Divination?"

"I am!" Lee exclaimed, appearing at Meril's elbow.

Shane looked blankly between the two of them. "Do you guys actually like that class?"

"Let's just say I like the topic, but not the way it's presented," Meril responded. She shuddered as she thought of Professor Trelawney and her tawdry shawls.

"Well, I always have fun," Lee stated, shrugging.

"You never even pay attention."

"So? I don't see your point, Mer."

"Well, personally, I think it's a load of rubbish," Shane declared. "I can't wait to be done with it and to take a better class."

"Oh yeah? What sort of class were you thinking of taking?"

"I dunno. Arithmancy, maybe."

"Oh, don't do it! Arithmancy is horrible, really."

"I thought you liked it," Lee said, furrowing his eyebrows together.

"Oh, I do. Sort of…I definitely liked it before I came here. Now my opinion of it is all in the air." Meril sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, that's for sure."

"Right. What about Muggle Studies? Any strong feelings about that?" Shane inquired, smiling slightly.

Meril hesitated. "No…No, I have no opinions about that. I've never taken it, though. It's never really interested me, I suppose…"

"Yes, that is how many feel about it, I believe. I think Muggles are…oh, I don't know…sort of intriguing, I suppose. Look, here's where Sir Cadogan's portrait used to be." Shane stopped abruptly on the staircase before a landscape portrait with a young woman; to everone's surprise, the knight was there as well.

"Hello, Sir Cadogan," Shane greeted.

The knight squinted at him, leaning against his too-long sword. "Who be this trespassing on this fair maiden's lands? En guarde! I, Sir Cadogan, challenge you to a duel!" He attempted to lift his sword and ended up tumbling out of the frame.

"And that is why we don't stop to talk to the mental knight," Lee mumbled. He tugged at the elbow of Meril's robe. "C'mon."

As the three continued up the stairs to the North Tower, they could hear Sir Cadogan bellowing after them, "Cowards! Knaves!"

"What a head case. I'm glad I never noticed him before. It was so much easier back then…" Meril sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Shane, why did you have to point him out to me?"

"You probably would have heard him anyway, now that you know who he is…Besides, I thought you said you went another way?"

"Oh, I don't know! This way looks awfully familiar, though. I think I must have come this way; I just never heard him before. I am quite good at tuning people out when I want to, you know."

"You know, somehow I knew that."

Meril, Shane, and Lee arrived at the North Tower shortly thereafter and climbed up the ladder into the classroom. It was as stuffy as usual, the mixed scent of perfume and fire overwhelming. Meril wished that Trelawney would learn to crack a window, but as usual, they were firmly shut.

"Bye, Shane," Meril said, turning to join Heather at their usual table in the back. Shane nodded in acknowledgement and went off to join his own friends. Meril watched as he went, but found she didn't recognize any of them.

"There you are!" Heather exclaimed a bit irritably as Meril folded herself on the over-stuffed cushion beside her. "I've been waiting. You wouldn't believe how early I got here. I think the fumes have already gotten to my head…and Trelawney is being a real pain in the you-know-where."

"How so?" Meril asked, furrowing her eyebrows together as she curiously played with the pink teacup before her.

"Oh, the usual. Class hasn't even started, and she's predicting stuff. I was the only one here, so she was trying to tell me what happened over my holiday—of course, she was _completely _off base—and what sort of things I have to look forward to this year. It's all rubbish though, isn't it?" Heather sighed, twirling her cup around its saucer.

"You should talk to Shane about that, I think. He will have more to say about it than I would."

"Yes, I know you like this stuff, but she is such an old fraud! She can't even see what's happening currently clearly; how is she supposed to know what's going to happen in the future?"

"Being a Seer does not depend on eyesight!" Meril exclaimed defensively. Heather gave her a surprised look, and Meril quickly gave in. "But, yes, she is clinically insane. I don't believe a word of her."

"It's so fun though!" Lee put in, smiling widely at them both.

Meril turned and observed him for a moment before it clicked in her mind. "You just like trying to see how many things that she says you can twist. Oh, you little pervert!"

Lee gasped. "I am not!"

"Oh you so are! It's okay though, Lee. I promise I won't tell anyone. This can just be between you, me, and Heather."

Lee scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You are ridiculous—I hope you know that, Meril."

Meril waved her hand at him dismissively just as Professor Trelawney finally rose from her over-stuffed armchair. She floated across the room to the center, where she observed the class through her thick, round glasses.

"Good morning," she greeted, her voice airy as she attempted to sound mystical. "Welcome back from your holiday—I know you all had a wonderful time." She smiled around at them, clearly ignoring the girl crying in the back corner, who obviously did _not _have a great Christmas holiday.

"Today, we shall be reading tea leaves!" she continued. Groans chorused throughout the small room, but, as usual, the Divination professor was oblivious.

"These are not just _any_ tea leaves, though. We will be drinking Rose-Hip tea today. Does anyone know what Rose-Hip tea is?"

"Oh, I hate that drink!" Heather exclaimed, shuddering.

Professor Trelawney glared at the blonde. "I meant does anyone know what magical properties this drink serves." She raised her eyebrows as she looked around the room. "No? No one does? Well, allow me to inform you." She cleared her throat and sat down in an empty seat. "Reading Rose-Hip tea leaves is very important when you are curious about your love life. Whole books have been written about this subject. And today, that is what we will be doing."

"Professor—we don't have any books on it," someone protested.

"There is a section in your text books. I assume you all have brought your textbooks?"

Simultaneously, the class reached into their bags and pulled out the ridiculously thick Divination text book. Meril went for the index, scanning for anything that might mention Rose-Hip tea. The index had nothing on that subject, so she continued to look for anything similar to what Trelawney had just said.

The only thing that came up was 'Tea Leaves.' Meril flipped to it and started skimming through it, searching for particular types. Eventually, she found it—**Rose-Hip Tea: The Key to Reading Your Future Love Life.**

"Once you have found it, please read through silently. Once everyone is finished, we shall begin."

_ Rose-Hip tea has high magical properties, when used properly, when it comes to diving the future. The secret is to use tea-leaves rather than tea-bags, and also to know what to look for, which is what this section is for._

_ It should be said, though, that no tea, not even Rose-Hip tea, can predict anything far into the future. The farthest ahead it can see is a year. For some, this may be plenty to get the results they seek. Wizards and people today are far more interested in the present than in the future, after all. However, there are some who will not be satisfied by this—they want to know how they will end up. The best that can be suggested is to go through this process fairly regularly to keep yourself up to date—or rather up to the future—on your love life._

_ In order to achieve the best results with your tea leaves, you must me sure to swish the tea around in your tea cup. Then, you must allow it to sit and settle before you _slowly _drink the tea. It is very important that you drink it. Since Rose-Hip tea has a very particular taste, some have tried to drain the liquid and find their future that way, but this will not work. The tea does not just use the mind and feel of the wizard or witch to predict the future, it uses the lips—after all, the lips are the key to love. _

_ When you look at the dregs, they should resemble the face of your loved one. But that is not all you should look for. There are other signs to consider in the dregs, like what will be happening in the relationship. If there is an 'x,' that means you are breaking up, or your loved one will be leaving you in some other way. Other signs will tell you other things: a new relationship blooming, a major change in the relationship; danger; etc. _

_ Refer to a Rose-Hip tea book for more specific examples._

"Oh, bloody hell!" Heather groaned, slamming her book down on the table.

"What's wrong?" Meril whispered, concerned.

"I actually have to drink it!"

"Well what did you _expect_?" Lee asked, staring incredulously at the blonde. "Did you think you could just…dump it out the window or something?"

"Don't be silly, Lee. Those windows are never open."

"I hope everyone is finished reading now, because it is time to make tea!"

Professor Trelawney went around, supplying each table with a kettle and some tea leaves. Meril happily put her tea together, actually excited for the lesson. She wasn't so much interested in what was going to happen with her love life, but more excited about getting to drink tea during class.

"Swish! Swirl! It is very important!"

Heather ended up with some tea on her lap, which ordinarily would have bothered her, but she wasn't too phased by it, considering the circumstances.

"Good! Now let it settle; let it settle!"

It took only a minute or so for the dregs to sink to the bottom. Meril stared at her tea curiously, suddenly wondering what exactly she would find in the bottom of her cup, something which you only really had to wonder about in Divination. Unless someone really hated you.

"I believe it is time to drink, now. Everyone be sure not the drink the dregs; it will ruin the outcome, and so bring you a false prediction."

"Like we're not used to those," Meril whispered out of the corner of her mouth; Heather and Lee snickered, immediately earning the table a harsh glare from behind Professor Trelawney's buggy spectacles.

"Okay, okay—drink!" Meril hissed. She lifted her cup to her lips and bit the edge so that only the liquid would pass through to her mouth.

Her dregs didn't look like anything, really. She stared and stared at them, but couldn't make anything out. There was some sort of profile, if she squinted her eyes, but was she supposed to be able to tell who that was just from that.

"Lee, you tell me," she demanded, passing her cup across the table to her friend.

Lee barely had to glance at it before a grin spread across his face. "Is that George?"

"George?" Meril squeaked, snatching her mug back. "No, no…It can't be George." She squinted at it again; it did sort of resemble him, if that was at all possible.

"Yeah! Look, there's even an empty spot on the neck—right where George's scar is."

"What scar?" Meril asked, narrowing her eyes at Lee.

"You know…the one he got third year? He was—" Lee cut himself short, suddenly realizing what he was saying. "It's not important. It's just a little scar."

"Oh. Well…this isn't George."

"How can you be so sure? Are you a Seer?"

"Well, no…"

"Then it _could _be!"

"I don't think it is."

"Then there is only one other option…it's Fred!"

Meril stared silently at the tea dregs, trying to find some way that it could be something else. Now that Lee pointed it out, though, all she could see was the twins' profile.

"It's Fred!" Lee repeated; his voice didn't sound as gleeful as it had when he declared it to be George. "Is it Fred?"

Meril continued to stare at the dregs; she had every intention of denying it, but somehow a meek "Yes" escaped her lips; Lee gasped, nearly dropping his own mug.

"Are you serious?"

Meril nodded gravely, unable to lift her eyes from the murky dregs.

"Then you _did_ snog my best mate!"

That caught Meril's attention; her eyes snapped forward, locking onto Lee's dark brown ones. "You don't know that."

"Sure I do. It's the only thing that can explain the way you two have been acting, now that I know you are together." He paused, his smile falling, and leaned forward to whisper, "Does George know?"

Silence.

"When are you going to tell him?"

Silence.

"Well, you should probably get to that." He shrugged, losing interest in the topic, and turned his attention to his own cup of tea. After a moment of staring at it, his face took on a confused look.

"Er—professor? Could you come look at this? It looks like it didn't work."

"Of course it worked!" Professor Trelawney exclaimed, sweeping towards Lee. She grabbed the cup from his hand, adjusted her glasses, and peered at the dregs. After a moment, she gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.

"W-what?" Lee stuttered, suddenly nervous.

"Oh, you poor boy!" Trelawney cried, thrusting the cup back at him. "You got…the Glob."

"The…Glob?" Lee asked as Meril snickered.

"Yes, the Glob. It's a terrible sign. It means that there is no foreseeable change in your love life."

"Well, why is that always so terrible? What if you are in a happy relationship with someone?" Shane called out after a moment of silence. Lee just continued to sit staring at his Glob.

"In that case," Professor Trelawney started cautiously, "it may not be so bad. However, we are all always looking for positive improvements. The Glob does not generally appear, though, unless its receiver is…not romantically involved."

Lee's face darkened and his jaw clenched. Meril reached forward and grabbed his shaking fist, trying to comfort him. "I'll be your girlfriend," she offered, smiling softly at him.

Lee looked up at her, his eyes oddly dead, and forced a smile. "That's sweet, but you have Fred. I have no one. It's okay—the Glob is okay. I'm used to it…"

"This is absolute **_RUBBISH_**!" Heather exclaimed, jumping to her feet. It was the first thing she had said since before she had to drink the tea. "First, this tea tells Lee that he's going to have no one, which is ridiculous because he is the sweetest boy, but now, my tea…" Heather's face was red, her eyes flashing dangerously in the professor's direction. "I can tell you right now that _this—_" she angrily pointed her finger down at her dregs "—is _not _going to happen!"

Professor Trelawney started to glide towards Heather, ready to appease her, by Heather recoiled, swatting her away. "Don't touch me you old fraud! I'm leaving, and don't expect to see me back here. I'm done with this trash."

In a hurried fury, Heather gathered her things and stormed out of the class. Meril watched, startled by her best friend's outburst.

"My," Trelawney exclaimed. "What caused such a commotion?" She moved as if to grab Heather's tea cup, but Meril snatched it up first.

"I don't think it is right to speculate over the dregs of someone who is not even here."

"Oh. Oh, yes—you're quite right. Why don't we take a look at yours then?" The gaudy woman lifted Meril's teacup and began making foul faces Meril could not make out, but by her words, she assumed they were good. "A new relationship is on the horizon for you! It is one you have been scared of making, but do not worry—this is a good one."

"I wasn't worried about anything," Meril said, but she immediately thought of George and knew that was a lie.

She was worried about a lot of things.

Professor Trelawney merely blinked in Meril's direction, her lips slightly pursed, before sweeping away to go stick her nose in someone else's business.

"What was that about?" Lee wondered, glancing towards Heather's empty seat.

"Dunno," Meril said truthfully. She knew that Heather disliked Divination and had seriously been considering dropping it, but she never would have imagined that sort of outbreak possible from her.

"Should we check?"

Meril hesitantly reached for the teacup. "It seems so private…"

"No, it's not. Heather has always been very open about her relationships."

"And it is the only way…" Meril took a deep breath and looked down at the tea dregs. Unlike the others, the shape was easily distinguishable—Cedric's profile with a large 'x' slashed across it.

"You look shocked. What is it?"

"That doesn't seem right…" Meril muttered, knitting her eyebrows together as she passed the cup over to Lee. He looked at it for a moment before putting it back down.

"Well," he began slowly, "that _is _shocking…"

"I don't really blame her behavior," Meril admitted. "I wouldn't want some tea I hated to tell me I was going to be breaking up with my boyfriend, either."

Lee stared uncomfortably at his teacup, squirming a little in his seat.

"Oh, I'm sorry Lee…"

"What? Oh, no. I'm not upset about that," Lee said sincerely, dismissing his tea dregs.

"Then what is it?"

"It's—well…" Lee sighed, shaking his head; his dreadlocks gently whipped his face. "It's nothing."

Meril frowned and extended her hand, grabbing hold of his. "Lee, you know you can tell me anything."

"Yeah, but this isn't _my _'anything' to tell you."

"Whose is it?"

Lee dropped her hand, his expression blank. "You think I can tell you that?"

"No…I guess not." Meril sat back, returning her hand to her lap. "Now you've gotten me all curious though!"

Lee shrugged. "Sorry, Mer. Maybe some day you'll find out." The look in his eyes, though, told Meril that he had a feeling she wouldn't, no matter how much he wanted her to.

* * *

Meril was sure not to sit next to or across from Fred at lunch, not wanting to give Lee any opportunities to give anything away. She couldn't believe she had told Lee. He was one of her best friends, granted, but it really should have been George to find out next. Not that she wanted to tell George, that much was quite obvious to Meril. She had the perfect opportunity to tell him—he outright _asked_ her—and she denied it.

Meril was really hoping that that didn't get back to Fred. Undoubtedly, he'd be upset. Not only because George still didn't know, but because she had denied _him_.

Meril was a horrible girlfriend, and an even worse friend.

"I'm gonna go," Meril announced abruptly, shooting to her feet. Her lunch sat unfinished on her plate.

"No you're not! No leaving the table until your plate is clean, missy!" George teased. Already, he seemed so much more like himself than he had recently. He had, of course, continued his joking before, but his heart didn't seem as into it. Now, suddenly, the glitter was back in his eyes—his face never without a smile.

Meril silently scraped the remains of her lunch onto Lee's plate and walked away.

"I guess that'll do!" George called after her.

Ordinarily, Meril would have stopped and laughed; now, all she could do was will her legs to move faster. She soon found herself outside the Arithmancy classroom; the corridor was completely empty other than herself.

Meril took a deep breath as she slid to the ground. She pulled her knees up to her chest and cradled her head in her hands. Suddenly she was feeling very overwhelmed by everything, and it was suffocating her. She didn't even know what was going on anymore.

She had thought she'd be happy when she finally figured out which of the two—Fred or George—was right for her. So far, though, it had brought her nothing but grief. She wished desperately that she could go back to the days before Fred kissed her—the days when she was convinced she was experiencing unrequited love. She had been seriously longing for one to feel the same towards her back then, but she had been happy. Well, now she got her wish, and she was on the fast track to being miserable.

Why was that?

She was perfectly happy whenever she was alone with Fred. She could kiss him and hug him and hold his hand and she was perfectly at ease. It was only when they were with other people—when they talked about telling other people—that Meril found it hard to take a breath and her mind became a whirlwind.

Then George—stupid, _stupid_ George—had to go and ask her if anything was going on…

"Wha—oh, hello there, Meril."

Meril glanced up for the source of this new voice. Professor Chatham had emerged from the classroom and was now standing in the doorway, watching Meril curiously.

"Hullo Professor," Meril replied glumly, burying her face back into her knees.

"Are you alright?"

Meril didn't bother to answer that. She thought it was quite clear to anyone looking at her that she was _not _"alright."

"Well, come in then. Let me make you some hot cocoa."

Meril's head shot up and she stared blankly at her professor. "What?"

"Come into my office. I'll make you some hot cocoa. That always makes _me_ feel better." He paused outside the door, watching Meril curiously. "Come along then."

Meril slowly got to her feet and followed him into his small office space.

"Door open or closed?"

"Open is fine. Thank you, sir."

"I believe we've had this conversation before, Meril. Don't call me 'sir.' It's so stiff and formal. 'Mr. Chatham' will do just fine, unless you'd rather call me Spencer?"

"No!" Meril screamed, horrified.

"Yes, I thought that probably hadn't changed. Here, have some chocolate as well." He smiled, handing Meril a large block of chocolate he took from his drawer.

Meril uncertainly accepted the block and started to nibble on the corner as Professor Chatham bustled about the small space, heating up some water for their hot chocolate.

"Would you like to tell me what's going on? I'd be happy to listen," Professor Chatham offered, smiling kindly at her.

"No, that's okay. Thank you, though."

"Of course."

Meril was silent for a moment before continuing, "I'm just not sure if I am comfortable discussing personal problems with a teacher.—especially when that teacher also happens to be my mother's boyfriend." Saying it still felt weird to Meril.

"Ah, yes. Well, of course I understand. Well, if it helps, I won't tell her if you don't want me to."

"That's not the problem; I am perfectly comfortable talking to my mom about things."

"It was worth a shot. Here's your hot cocoa—be careful, it's very hot."

Meril blew lightly at the surface before taking a sip. "Thank you."

"Of course." He sat down at his desk and sipped unsurely at his own drink. "How was your holiday?"

"It was very nice. I had a lot of fun. I wish I was still on it, honestly." Meril chuckled almost wistfully, shaking her head. "How was yours?"

"It was very enjoyable. I spent a lot of time with your mother. I took her skiing in the Alps, you know."

"Did you?" Meril wondered. "She never mentioned anything about that. I don't think she knows how to ski."

Professor Chatham laughed loudly. "Oh, she doesn't. It was very entertaining."

"I'm sure it was…" Meril took another sip of her drink and cast her eyes curiously about his office. Books of all sorts lined his walls and his desk was covered with papers—mostly homework assignments he gave his class, but also letters and his own arithmetic problems. Amongst them, though, were picture frames. Meril couldn't see most of them, but one of the two she could see was of Mr. Chatham with her mother. The other was him and some boy.

"Who's that?" Meril asked, pointing at the photograph.

Mr. Chatham followed the direction of her finger and lifted up the picture. "That's me and my son Alexander. Your mother met him over the holiday, you know."

"Oh, yeah. I remember her mentioning that.

"He's just a few years older than you, you know."

This also sounded familiar the Meril. She remained silent for a moment, trying to remember what it was that her mother had told her about the Chatham boy. "Oh, yeah. Three years older, right? Gryffindor? Friends with...Charlie Weasley?"

"Yes!" Spencer beamed. He looked at the picture proudly for a moment before setting it back down. "I suppose your mom told you all that?"

"Yes she did."

"I'm surprised you remembered all of that."

"So am I," Meril admitted, laughing lightly. "I have a very…peculiar memory, I guess."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, the things I remember…I remember the tiniest details of things, and yet there are larger things that I just…I can't remember for the life of me. I can't explain it; I just think I remember odd things." Meril shrugged and took a large gulp of her hot chocolate.

"I know just what you mean," Professor Chatham said, smiling warmly at Meril.

Meril smiled back at him and took another large bite of her chocolate. It was strange how much better she was suddenly feeling—how comfortable she was sitting there, talking to her mother's boyfriend. She had never been comfortable with anyone her mother dated before—especially not Mr. Chatham. Maybe all it took was to talk to him to finally feel okay about the situation.

"Thank you," Meril said, smiling unsurely at her teacher.

"Of course! Anytime. And if you decide you need someone to talk to about whatever it is that is bothering you—well, I'm here."

"That's very kind of you. Thank you."

Meril felt comfortable with him, but that didn't mean he had suddenly become her psychiatrist. There was no need to mention that, though, so she just continued to sit there until she had finished her drink and chocolate. By that time, class was about to start, and Meril was promptly ushered into the classroom.

Meril took her usual seat in the back, took out her book, and waited patiently for the rest of the class to find their way there. She watched as, one by one, the small number of students wandered in, Jesse Fujimaki among them.

"Jesse!" she exclaimed, quickly followed by a confused, "Jesse?"

The Ravenclaw turned to find the source of his name; seeing Meril, he waved unsurely. "Hey Meril…"

"Did you just switch into here from Professor Vector's class?"

"No…I've always been in this class."

"No you haven't!" Meril insisted. "Because if you have been, then I am just a horrible, oblivious, almost rude person, and I really don't want to be that person."

Jesse laughed. "I don't know what to say…I've been in this class all year."

"Prove it to me!" Meril demanded.

"Um…Okay…" Jesse paused, staring up at the ceiling as he thought. "The first day Professor Chatham was here, you jumped up out of your seat, pointed at him, and screamed 'You!' very accusingly."

Meril's face turned an even darker shade of red. "Okay, fine. I believe you. I'm so sorry! I never even realized…I must have been so busy back here…"

"It's okay. You know, that explains a lot, actually."

"Like what?"

"Well, why you never mentioned Arithmancy. On the train, you just mentioned that I vouched for you with McGonagall…You didn't show any recognition from this class…either time, actually."

"Yeah…I'm sorry about that," Meril said sheepishly. She paused, something suddenly occurring to her. "Is that why you were giving me such odd looks?"

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know I was actually expressing those…"

"It's okay; it's fine…" Meril drifted off and just stared at him. "Would you join me back here? It gets awfully lonely and hard to concentrate."

"Yeah, sure. Just hold on a moment."

Jesse placed his books down beside Meril and went up to the front of the room. He tapped someone on the shoulder and started gesturing to the back of the room. The boy he was talking to looked back at Meril unsurely before nodding. Jesse waited for him as he gathered his things, and then the two returned to the back.

"Clement, this is Meril. Meril, I'm sure you—" Jesse cut himself off suddenly. "Never mind. You probably actually don't."

"No, I'm sorry," Meril said sheepishly. "You know, I have an excuse though. I was gone for two years! I missed a _lot _of opportunities to meet people." She smiled up at the stranger before her and extended her hand. "I'm Meril Lizlow."

"Clement Wilm," Clement said, giving Meril's hand a firm shake.

"Wilm…That sounds familiar…" Meril bit her lip and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. The train…she had definitely heard that name on the train! "Are you friends with Rome Dickenson?"

"Oh, no. He's a nice guy, but you're thinking of my brother—Gabriel. Slytherin?"

"Yeah, I don't know who he is, either. But yeah, that is who Rome mentioned…not you. Sorry."

"It's fine. Pretty easy to confuse people you don't know—especially twins," Clement laughed, settling down into the seat beside Jesse.

"Well, it won't happen again!" Meril promised. "Now it's just your brother I won't recognize!" She didn't know why she kept talking; the fact that she didn't know who so many people were was really embarrassing to her. She felt like a really self-involved snob. But she wasn't—honestly, she wasn't.

Clement just smiled awkwardly at her in response, obviously as uncomfortable with the subject as Meril was.

"Okay everyone!" Professor Chatham exclaimed at the front of the room. "I see people have been rearranging themselves—that's okay; that's okay! Glad I noticed before I started passing back papers." He grinned widely, his dimples prominent in his kind face. "Let's get started."

* * *

"I am absolutely exhausted!" Meril exclaimed, collapsing in front of the fire in the Common Room. "Today has just been cra—Who _are_ you people?" The sofa and armchairs had been taken over by a bunch of little people whom Meril didn't recognize. They all stared back at her, looking almost frightened with their wide eyes.

Meril climbed back onto her feet and walked away from them, moving upstairs to her dormitory where she knew she was sure to find someone that she knew.

Angelina, Alicia, and Hayley were all spread out on their own beds, wrapped up in their own thing. Alicia was painting her nails as Angelina scribbled away on a piece of parchment, undoubtedly already at work on that night's homework. Hayley held a book in front of her face, but it was quite obvious by her stillness that she had dozed off yet again.

"Good evening!" Meril exclaimed.

"Hey, Meril," Angelina and Alicia greeted in unison, both looking up to smile at her.

Meril walked over to Hayley's four-poster bed and sat down on the edge of it, deciding that she would stay there until she woke up.

"Meril—what are you doing?" Angelina asked, her eyes glued to her textbook.

Alicia shushed her, waving her hand in her face. "I want to see how this goes."

"But how _what_ goes—that is all I am asking!"

"Shhhhh! Hayley and I are bonding!" Meril whispered. She turned onto her side to face Hayley and closed her own eyes, allowing herself to fall into a easy sleep. There was something about just being in the presence of sleeping Hayley that was calming; even if Meril had resisted sleep, she knew she'd end up there anyway.

Meril was quite content to remain there until something hard forcefully hit her chin. She awoke with a start and toppled off of the bed. "Ow…" she groaned, her voice muffled by the floor.

"Meril? What were you _doing_?" Hayley exclaimed.

"Sleeping."

"Yeah, I noticed that! But why on my bed?"

Meril slowly turned over onto her back. "Ow, that hurt! I think you bruised me! What did you do?"

"I kicked you," Hayley replied as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Remind me to not get on your bad side…or the foot of your bed again. Yikes, that hurt Hale!"

Hayley shrugged, brushing her messy honey-blonde hair out of her face. Her eyes, Meril was astounded to find, were wide open. She could only ever remember seeing them closed or very, _very _close to being so.

"You know," Alicia began thoughtfully, "that wasn't how I saw it ending. I really didn't think Hayley would wake up so soon. I thought they might make it until the morning. What about you, Angie?"

"Well…I knew Meril would end up falling off the bed."

Meril turned and glared at Angelina, who was smiling at her homework, undoubtedly attempting to hold back her laughter.

"I'm sorry I kicked you," Hayley said sincerely. "It's just sort of instinctive when you find some strange person sleeping on your bed…especially when they weren't there when you fell asleep."

"Fred and George never hit me," Meril grumbled, rubbing her chin.

"Yeah, well—" Hayley began, quickly stopping herself. "Maybe it's just instinct for _me_."

"No, I'm with you, girl!" Alicia wholeheartedly agreed. "Those twins are just—who knows what goes on in their heads, you know?"

"Meril," Angelina said, her face suddenly looking quite serious. She closed her textbook and set it down on her nightstand. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Yeah, of course. What is it?"

Angelina shook her head. "Not here. I'd feel more comfortable discussing it outside or something."

"Are you alright?" Meril asked worriedly. She knit her eyebrows together and stared at the Chaser, but Angelina's face was very passive.

"I'm fine," she insisted. "Just follow me."

The two walked in silence down to the Common Room, out through the portrait hole, and all the way down to the end of the corridor. It wasn't yet after hours, so neither was afraid of being caught by Filch. Angelina, however, was very careful about them being alone.

"Angelina, what is going on?"

"Lee told me something today," she said, her dark brown eyes locking onto Meril's. Angelina never had been one to beat around the bush before, yet she seemed rather wary to bring it up. "It was something about Divination, and something I am quite interested in."

Dread immediately filled Meril's gut. Had Lee _really_ told Angelina? Meril had told him that George didn't know—how could he think that it was okay for him to tell Angelina?

"He mentioned that you were looking at tea dregs today—to look at your future love lives. I was just wondering—"

"Yes, it's true!" Meril exclaimed. She couldn't stand listening to Angelina carefully treading around the question—it was making her nervous.

Angelina's mouth clamped shut and she regarded Meril curiously for a moment before deciding to open it again. "What's true?"

"That—wait, what were you trying to talk to me about?"

"Lee's tea dregs, but not I am much more interested in what you were going to say. Meril, what's true?"

"I'm not at liberty to say?"

"You are a very curious person, did you know that?"

"Yes?"

Angelina sighed, shaking her head. "Never mind that. I was just wondering…about Lee's tea leaves. He seemed embarrassed to tell me what was in them. I was just curious—was it me?"

Meril was taken aback by this. She had never seen Angelina express any sort of interest in Lee's love life. Now, though, she seemed almost urgent in her request, but Meril couldn't be sure if this was a good or bad thing.

"No—no, it wasn't you."

"Oh…okay." Angelina fell silent; her face became filled with emotion, but Meril couldn't tell what it was. She wasn't stony-faced, but it was still impossible to tell. It wasn't fair.

"Was that it?"

"Yes, it was." Angelina lifted her head; a radiant smile had taken over her face. "I'm going to go back up to the room now. Are you…?"

"No, I'm going to stay down here for a bit. I'll see you up there."

"Yeah." Her smile faltered for a minute, but before Meril could ask if she was okay, it was back, and she was heading back for the portrait hole.

Meril remained still for a moment, watched as her friend returned to Gryffindor tower. She was so confusing; Meril could never make her out. She was always saying how she wasn't interested in Lee, but she seemed almost disappointed by his tea reading. But why should that stop her from making a move? Unless it made her think that he wasn't interested? Meril shook her head in an attempt to rid thoughts of those two from her mind. Their whole relationship was one huge mystery to her.

"Meril!"

Meril's head jerked up and a smile spread across her face. She half-ran over to the portrait hole and flung her arms around him.

"Are you okay? You seem…distracted?"

"I'm just tired; it has been a very exhausting day."

"Has it really?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," Meril yawned, almost as if to prove her point.

"Well enlighten me."

Meril tightened her grip around him and smiled. "You wouldn't understand. See, I've been _thinking _a lot."

"Oh, well we all know I am very unfamiliar with that process."

"Exactly. I wouldn't want to overwork your brain, see."

"Oh, no. We wouldn't want that."

Meril laughed lightly. He had such a cute smile…She got up on her tip-toes and gently pressed her lips against his, allowing herself to just be lost in that moment and forget about everything that had happened that day—George's question, the tea leaves, the emotional roller-coaster newly constructed inside her, the thoughts buzzing about her head. In that one small moment, it was all lost and it was just her and him.

"Hey," a new, strained voice interrupted. "Angelina said I could find you out here."

Meril pulled away from Fred, her heart dropping into her stomach. Because there, standing just outside the portrait hole, his face—his lovely face that should never have anything but a smile—blank and void of any emotion, was George.

* * *

**a/n** So, this didn't take nearly as long as I had thought it would. I just powered right through it! As a result, it may not be the best chapter. That is likely due to the fact that, going into it, I only knew what was going to happen at the beginning and at the end. And even those were just vague ideas...In any case, I hope you enjoyed anyway! I have been trying to get to this point...well, for a VERY long time! Hopefully, from here, things will speed up. Well, depending on how quickly I write...but I think you know what I mean.

Anyway...reviews are always appreciated.

xoxo


	35. Valentine's Day

**Chapter Thirty-Four—**  
Valentine's Day

* * *

On the surface, everything seemed fine—great, even. Meril and Fred finally went public with their relationship, but nothing really changed. They still spent most of their time with friends, and while they were with them, they barely did more than hold hands—if even that. Meril had never wanted to be one of those girls who couldn't stay off of her boyfriend, so this was like a dream come true.

And yet, she wasn't convinced.

Looking carefully, she could see things weren't right—could feel it. Maybe it was the way George didn't seem to see her anymore when he looked at her. It seemed, rather, that he was looking past her. His eyes were lacking their usual warmth and were instead like two mossy stones lodged in his head—all of the soul was gone. He went through all of the motions of being George—he smiles, he laughed, he teased and joked—but it all seemed hollow.

George Weasley had gone missing.

Meril tried to talk to him, but she could never seem to get him alone. She had the distinct impression that he was avoiding her, a thought which made Meril feel surprisingly wretched. All she needed was five minutes alone with him to find out what was going on, but even if she could manage to steal that much time from him (apart from seemingly avoiding Meril, Wood had also doubled the Quidditch practice, leaving the team with no free time), she was beginning to doubt whether she'd be able to get him to tell her what was wrong. Maybe the real George would, but with this new, hollow replica, it was doubtful.

Meril heaved a great sigh. Once again, her restless mind had woken her early in the morning—so early that she had nothing else to do but lay there and continue to think about it.

Something was clearly bothering George, though no one else seemed to notice, not even Fred. And, even if he did, he wasn't talking about it with Meril. Meril was afraid to bring it up; what if Fred hadn't noticed; what if she was just too sensitive to these things?

As the sunlight slowly began to stream in through the solitary window, Meril's dorm mates gradually started to waken. As usual, Caitlin Haelstrome did so silently, immediately dressing and going down to the Common Room, barreling grumbling a "G'morning" as she went.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Alicia sang, stifling a yawn as she stretched her arms over her head. A broad grin was spread across her face as she turned to stare at Meril.

It was Valentine's Day? Meril knit her eyebrows together in concentration, not sure where the time had went. One minute, it was January 12 and George was finding out about Meril and Fred. The next second, a month had already past, and she had yet to speak with him about it.

"Happy Valentine's Day," Meril grumbled back.

"I don't know what _you're _so grumpy about," Angelina commented, emerging from beneath her covers. "You _have_ a boyfriend."

"So?"

"_So?_" Alicia exclaimed. "What do you mean 'so?' Even you have to be aware of what Valentine's Day is. It's the day of love—the day to express your romantic feelings towards a significant other. And when there is no one to express those feelings for, it is pretty depressing."

"I know what it is," Meril said crossly. "It isn't as if you two are without options, though."

Alicia snorted. "Who do I have? Angelina at least has Lee, but me? I don't have anyone chasing _me_ around."

"Oh! What about that one guy who tried to kiss you just the other day?" Meril suggested brightly.

Her efforts, unfortunately, only earned her a sharp glare. "He was a _second year_ and he didn't even know who I was."

"Yeah, but he chased you all around the table!"

Alicia rolled her eyes. "You know that isn't what I meant."

"I think it should still count for something."

"Unfortunately, it doesn't," Alicia sighed, falling back on her pillow. "It isn't fair. I mean, you've always had those twins—and everyone always knew you'd end up with _one_ of them—and I—"

"Wait a minute—wait—_wait_…**_WHAT_**?"

Alicia sat back up, startled by Meril's outburst. Blinking her large brown eyes, she said, "What?"

"Hayley—wake up!" Meril demanded, turning towards her sleeping roommate. As expected, Meril's words had no effect on her, so Meril forced herself out of bed and stormed over to the sleeping figure. Grabbing a pillow from Caitlin's freshly made bed, she proceeded to beat Hayley over the head with it until she woke.

Nearly twenty hits later, Hayley Dobson shot up, her face masked by her long tangled hair. "What's going on?" she slurred; the pillow made impact on her face again. "Ow! Ow! Who's—Meril? What the bloody hell is going on?"

"Sorry—I just wanted to make sure you were really awake," Meril said, throwing the pillow carelessly aside.

"Why the _bloody hell_ would you do that?"

"Because she's clinically insane," Alicia replied, her eyes wary as she continued to watch the scene. Angelina usually would have been the one to make that sort of comment, but she was sitting silently on her bed, her eyes glazed over as she stared at her knees.

"Is it really true that everyone always expected me to get together with one of the twins?"

Hayley looked astounded, as if Meril should have known everyone felt that way. "Of course. I mean, I always thought it would be George, but—"

"**_What_**?" Meril shouted, her voice taking on a desperate tone. "How did you guys all know this was going to happen, and I was taken totally by surprise?"

"You had no idea that you were going to date Fred?" Alicia asked cautiously.

"No!"

"Well…this is sort of awkward then."

But apparently not _too _awkward because, after just a moment's pause, she asked again, "You really had no clue?"

"No! I really didn't! I mean…" Meril exhaled and collapsed on Alicia's bed, her eyes trained to the ceiling. "I've been confused for so long…about my feelings for them." It was true—she _had _been confused about her feelings, just not in the way it sounded. She had known for quite some time she loved them, she was just confused about _which_. "And I never thought either liked me…"

"_Really_?"

"I guess there were moments, but I always thought I was just being hopeful. And then…it happened."

"What happened? Oh, you've never told us the story of how you two got together!" Alicia gushed, staring at the figure at her feet and hugging a pillow to her chest.

"You don't talk about him much at all, actually," Angelina observed, speaking for the first time since when she first woke up. She still looked as if her mind was elsewhere, but at long last she had stopped staring at her knees.

"In fact," Angelina continued, "you barely act like a couple."

"That's because we know the time and place for that," Meril replied coolly, her facing turning a bright red. "I think it is rude to snog in front of other people.

"I wasn't reprimanding you," Angelina said. "I was just commenting."

"Oh…Alright."

Angelina's eyes appeared less glazed over now as she looked at Meril; slowly her attentions were turning back to the present; Meril had to wonder what she had been thinking about.

"So are you going to tell us or not?" Alicia asked eagerly, once again grabbing Meril's attention.

"I suppose I will," Meril said with a bit of a sigh. She hated discussing private matters like these; she always got so embarrassed. The only person she could talk about this with and feel totally comfortable was, of course, Heather, but she already knew this story.

Propping herself up on her elbow, Meril began to recount the story to the background noise of Hayley's snores. She had only been planning on telling them about the initial kiss, but she found herself starting with the night he helped her up the stairs and brushed her hair, which Alicia found to be quite cute.

She told them about how George and Lee had run ahead and how Fred really wanted to have a snowball fight; how she scooped up some snow and threw it; how, after an intense battle, he had grabbed her wrist and fallen, causing her to land on top of him; how her face hovered above his. Meril was surprised by the details she remembered—the shape and color—blue; it was terrible cold—of his lips; how violently her heart was slamming against her ribcage; how gently he pushed back her hair; how he guided her face towards his; how curiously his lips had touched against hers; the way her breath caught in her chest.

She repeated the dialogue, word for word, and described to them how gingerly he held her face as they kissed. She was about to go on an describe what happened next—how George suddenly appeared and they leapt apart; they didn't need to know how queasy the idea of George finding out made her feel.

"Well then what happened?" Alicia asked, completely engrossed by the tale.

Meril laughed lightly before going on to tell them about how she couldn't talk to either twin later; how she had decided to go to bed early rather than sit there anymore; how Fred had followed her and stopped her; how he convinced her it had meant something to him, too; how his breath smelt like peppermint; how he had kissed her at midnight and then just stood their, his forehead resting against hers as he held her.

By the time Meril had finished recounting that day, her face and ears were so hot she was almost sweating. The back of her neck was prickling; her throat was dry.

"That is so cute!" Alicia squealed in delight. "How could you never have mentioned this before?"

"It's sort of private," Meril replied, shrugging.

"But it's _so_ cute!" Alicia insisted. "I never would have thought…Fred Weasley…" She shook her head in disbelief, a strange smile twisted onto her face.

"When did George find out?" Angelina asked curiously.

Meril hesitated and began playing with the ends of her hair. No one knew that George hadn't known until right before everyone else had. They didn't know that Meril would have kept it a secret for longer if she could have.

She had never wanted him to find out like that.

The thought of it still made Meril sick.

She could still see the image clearly; at the sound of George's voice, Meril had leapt from Fred's arms as if he were a leper. George had just stared at the two, stony faced, for several minutes before he made any movement. And it was this that really got Meril—_he smiled_.

It was a horribly forced, twisted sort of grin, but there was no chance to comment cause he was soon coming over to Fred and clapping him on the shoulder and making some joke Meril couldn't remember. He wouldn't look at her at all, no matter how desperately she tried to catch his eye. He just draped his arm over his twin's shoulder and led him back into the Common Room, Meril traipsing along after them. Then, he announced it to everyone in there, a group which did not include Angelina or Alicia, or else they would have known straightaway that George hadn't known.

Fred had felt relieved that George finally knew, though he was disappointed he didn't get to tell him himself; Meril had felt like throwing up.

"He was the second person to find out," Meril said truthfully.

After that, she couldn't bear to sit there and talk about it anymore. So, silently, she walked over to her wardrobe, picked out some clothes for the day, and headed off to the shower.

Surprisingly, neither of her conscious dorm mates said anything to stop her.

* * *

Meril was pleased to know that Hogwarts had not gone all out for Valentine's Day. She had heard all about Gilderoy Lockhart's Valentine's Day "project" the year before from Heather, and it was nice to know that no professors had decided to follow in his footsteps.

However, the pancakes and the French toast were heart-shaped. The strawberries had even been cut into heart shapes. Bouquets of roses—red for Gryffindor, blue for Ravenclaw, yellow for Hufflepuff, and white for Slytherin—decorated the tables.

At least there were no special "cupids" running around handing out Valentines and throwing heart-shaped confetti. The walls were also clear of any Valentine's decorations. There _were_ things to be thankful for.

Meril didn't exactly have an aversion to Valentine's Day, but she just wasn't into it. She used to quite like it, especially when she was younger. She remembered her very first Valentine's Day card from someone other than her parents.

She had been seven-years old at the time. The owl had come while she was eating her breakfast. The card had been simple enough—a white background with a big red heart pulsing on the front. Inside there was a picture of cupid shooting arrows as hearts floated across the page.

_Dear Meril,_

_Roses are red_  
_Violets are blue_  
_Why can't I stop_  
_thinking of you?_

_Love, your secret admirer_

Later that day, she had found out that thirteen-year-old Bradley Scarlett had sent it to her from Hogwarts to tease her, but for those few short hours, Meril had never been so excited. She had a secret admirer!

Somewhere along the road, though, her interest in the holiday collapsed. She wasn't sure when it had happened, but if she had to guess, she'd say it had been while she was at Reform Camp. She had been dating Steve West at the time, but he hadn't made a big deal about it. Meril had always grown up thinking that Valentine's Day was supposed to be a big relationship day. When she discovered that it didn't necessarily mean that, her interest sort of disappeared.

Meril sat down at the Gryffindor table and started to fill her plate with food, avoiding anything heart-shaped. She had no expectations for this day; it would probably be just like any other, and she was fine with that.

"Where's Fred?" a thick Scottish accent asked. Meril glanced over at Oliver as he slid into the bench beside her and smiled.

"Dunno," she replied with a shrug. "Haven't seen him yet."

"Ah," Oliver said, nodding his head as he helped himself to some pancakes and strawberries. "So I haven't seen you around much lately."

"That's your fault," Meril replied. "If you didn't have Quidditch practice so often, then maybe we'd run into each other more."

"This is my last chance to win the Quidditch Cup—I need my team to be ready." He paused, taking the time to chew his food before continuing. "You could still come, you know."

"I would, but I've had a lot of work lately. And now that I can go to the library again, I have no excuse not to do it," Meril sighed. After Meril and Fred had been caught after sneaking into the library, Meril had been forced to hand in an incredibly mediocre essay to McGonagall (as well as five sickles to Heather). When she explained to her professor that she had no access to any information and that was why her essays for the past few months had been so terrible—not that they'd been brilliant before that—she went straight to Madam Pince and insisted that she be allowed back in.

The bitter librarian had eventually caved, but she still watched Meril closer than anyone else whenever she dared enter the room.

"Well, if you ever have time…"

"Of course."

The two continued to eat in silence, Oliver periodically looking over his shoulder with a concerned expression on his face.

"Oliver?" Meril began lightly, growing curious.

"Do you know who Amy Smith is? Of course you do…" He shook his head and glanced over his shoulder again. "She keeps staring at me."

Meril cocked an eyebrow, an amused smirk sliding onto her face. She followed Oliver's gaze to the Ravenclaw table where Amy was in fact staring at him.

"Oh, yeah. She quite fancies you," Meril said; she immediately bit her tongue, holding back the laugh she felt bubbling in her stomach.

"She what? She _fancies_ me? I haven't talked to her in—in—in _years_!" Oliver exclaimed. "We haven't even had a class together since we took our O.!" He scrunched his face together thoughtfully. "Have we? I s'pose we must've, but I haven't spoken to her since fourth—maybe fifth—year."

"Amy has trouble letting go of things," Meril explained.

"Are you sure?"

"Oh, yes; she told me so herself."

"Why would she do that?" Oliver asked, steadily growing more and more confused by the situation.

Meril sighed, running a hand through her hair. She didn't think she had ever told anyone about this incident before; she was pretty sure she had skipped it when telling Alicia and Angelina about the kissing incident. She wasn't sure how to go about doing it.

"Do you remember when we almost—" Meril took a deep breath before continuing; she had never said the words to him before "—kissed?" There, it was out—she said it. She held her breath as she waited for some sort of reaction, but none came.

Oliver merely nodded in response as, in a perfectly steady voice, he said, "Yes."

"Well, afterwards, Amy…ambushed me, I guess is the best way to put it. She said that you were "hers" and told me to stay away from you. She said that that was her first warning. The day of the first Quidditch match, she gave me my second."

At this point, Oliver looked truly frightened. She had seen him nervous before, but never over anything other than Quidditch. That was nothing compared to the look of pure terror on his face now.

"Are you serious?" he asked; his accent was so thick at this point that it was almost impossible to decipher what he had said. He glanced over his shoulder again and swallowed nervously.

"Sadly, I am. Looks like you got yourself a stalker there, Ollie."

Shaking his head, Oliver moved to stand. "I need to talk to her."

"Not a good idea," Meril said, shoving him back into his seat. "That will only feed the obsession. She'll think you're interested. Just…ignore her. You'll both be leaving in a few months—if she still pursues you then, that's when I'd start to get worried."

"Right…right. You're right," he said. "I'm going to go back to the Common Room, I think…"

"Alright. Good luck," Meril said, flashing him a sympathetic smile; he nodded half-heartedly and hurried towards the door, so distracted he nearly ran into the Hufflepuff table.

Meril shook her head, chuckling slightly to herself, and continued to eat her breakfast. She dared not turn around again, though, because she had the distinct impression someone was staring at her—and she was sure that stare wouldn't be a friendly one.

* * *

After breakfast, Meril headed straight to the library in search of new potions to make, feeling that Snape wasn't giving them complicated enough material. As usual, Madam Pince kept her sharp, unfriendly eyes firmly locked on Meril during her entire stay, failing to notice the real trouble makers—a bunch of first or second years—laughing loudly as they all poured over some book.

She managed to find a few interesting potions—the Aging Potion, Elixir to Induce Euphoria, Felix Felicis, a Memory Potion, Veritaserum, and a Wit-Sharpening Potion—and quickly copied them down onto parchment before hurrying off. It was lunch time by this point, and Meril was starving.

Pushing through the doors, her eyes immediately moved to the Gryffindor table. Her eyes flickered up and down the long rows in search of a mop of red hair to sit down by. However, neither twin seemed to be there. She hadn't seen either all day.

Not wanting to sit alone, Meril headed over to the Hufflepuff table, where Heather was seated with Rome Dickinson, Cora Rose, Ashley Bitler, and Jesse Fujimaki.

"It's nice to see I'm not the only one here breaking the rules," she commented, smiling at Jesse as she slipped onto the bench beside Heather.

"Hey, Meril," Jesse said, smiling in return. Since Meril had finally noticed that he was in her Arithmancy class, the two had become quite friendly with each other.

"What're you doing here?" Heather asked, looking surprised by her best friend's presence. "Shouldn't you be off with Fred or something?"

"I haven't seen him yet today," Meril replied with a small shrug. "What about Cedric? Where's he?"

"He's talking to Trey about something, I think. I'm not sure." Heather smiled brightly, clearly unperturbed by her boyfriends absence.

"It's Valentine's Day, though!" Cora exclaimed. "You guys should be with your boyfriends. I can't believe you haven't even seen him!"

"Yeah, it's weird," Meril agreed. "But I haven't given him much opportunity to find me, either. From breakfast, I went straight to the library. I just came out now to come here."

"Don't you want to see him?" Ashley asked; her eyebrows were drawn tightly together.

"Of course I do. But Valentine's Day just isn't a big deal to me."

"It used to be. Remember that time when Bradley—" Heather laughed.

"Yes," Meril interrupted, "I remember that. But I was little then. I've just grown out of it I guess." Her eyes caught on a figure—male, probably her age, by the looks of it—carrying a basket filled with cards and what appeared to be chocolates. "Speaking of growing out of it…"

"Gabriel!" Rome suddenly exclaimed, jumping out of his seat. The male with the basket's head turned and a grin broke out on his face. He dropped a card in front of some girl and then hurried over to the Hufflepuffs.

"Rome! Happy Valentine's Day!" he exclaimed, thrusting a card out to him.

So this was Gabriel Wilm. Meril had seen him before, but she never would have guessed. Aside from the long, dark hair, he looked nothing like Clement.

While Clement was tall—Meril would have to guess he was something like 6'5"—and had broad shoulders (and so had a broad frame), Gabriel was significantly shorter, certainly not surpassing six feet, and had a very slight frame. Clement's eyes were a deep brown, his nose small and straight, and his mouth small with a mole near one of the corners. Gabriel's eyes were a soft blue, his nose larger and rounder, and his lips much longer.

It took a great deal of looking indeed to find any real similarities, but Meril did eventually notice two. Both had long, dark eyebrows, and their lips were the same almost dainty shape, although not the same size.

Both were good looking guys, Meril had no doubts about that, but Clement had a burlier look, whereas Gabriel was more of a pretty-boy with his perfect, side-swept hair.

"…and here's a card for you…and you…and you…and Meril, you can have one, too."

Meril blinked, snapping out of her thoughts, and found herself staring at a red envelope. Her initial reaction was to jump back, fearing that it was a howler, but after noticing that it wasn't starting to smoke, she gingerly took it.

"Thank you?" she said, glancing up at Gabriel Wilm curiously.

He looked back down at her, his mouth twisted into an amused smirk and his eyebrow cocked ever so slightly. "It's a Valentine's Day Card," he explained. "Oh! And I forgot!" From his basket, he pulled a small package wrapped in pink cellophane and tied with a white ribbon. "Here you go."

Meril unsurely accepted the gift. "Thank you," she said again. Inside were five chocoballs; immediately her mouth began to water. These were one of her favorite treats—large chocolate sweets filled with strawberry mousse and clotted cream. It had to be one of the most heavenly things ever invented.

"You are very welcome!" Gabriel exclaimed, smiling brightly. He surveyed the table briefly, looking to see if he missed anyone. Finding that he hadn't, he turned towards Rome and said, "I have some more love to spread. I'll see you later." Clapping his best mate on the shoulder, he smiled again and hurried off to the Ravenclaw table.

Meril looked after him, noticed him stopping by Clement, and turned back to her companions at the Hufflepuff table.

"_He_ is a _Slytherin_?"

"Unbelievable, isn't it?" Cora agreed. She tentatively bit into the chocoball and her face broke out with delight. "These are bloody _fantastic!_"

Rome rolled his eyes at Cora and turned to address Meril. "He's one of the nice ones, but it isn't so unbelievable if you really know him. Just think about what it is that Slytherins are like. They're ambitious, cunning, and into self-preservation. They are also determined, resourceful, clever, and don't care too much for rules. No where in there does it require that they be nasty, does it?"

"No, you're right…It's just that—"

"So many are? Yes, I know. Sad, isn't it? I suppose that's just because, combined, a lot of those traits make a person a bit cocky. And then there's the whole blood-purity thing…" Rome shook his head in disgust.

"That seems to play a bigger role than their actual personality, if you ask me." Meril cast a meaningful glance towards Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Quidditch captain, an almost troll-like guy with a bad set of teeth; he was in his eighth year at Hogwarts, something which did not lead Meril to believe he was very clever or ambitious.

"I agree; but that isn't the case with Gabriel. He's one of the few people I know—Slytherin or not—who studies, and I mean _really _studies. Not that he needs to; he could pass with flying colors without trying. He'd do well in Ravenclaw, like Clement, but he's a bit more under-handed than that. He doesn't mind stepping on toes to get what he wants. Pretty much only thinks about himself and what will get him ahead." Rome took a large bite of his sandwich before continuing. "He's a good guy though—my best mate. Wants to be a healer, you know."

Meril looked over at Gabriel; he was still passing out Valentines across the Great Hall, though I noticed he was avoiding the Gryffindor table. He kept glancing up at the staff table, something which Rome noticed as well.

"He's a bit of a suck-up, too," he said. "That's part of the whole 'doing-anything-to-get-what-he-wants' bit."

"Yes, I see that," Meril commented. She glanced at the card and package of sweets sitting before her and smiled. He did seem like a nice guy.

"He is very sweet," Heather noted. She smiled softly, her eyes flickering towards Rome meaningfully, but he didn't notice it, and, although curious, Meril had the distinct impression that she shouldn't draw attention to it.

"Speaking of sweet…" Cora said, a smile forming on her already pleased face. Meril thought she was talking about the chocoballs again, but then she noticed where Cora's eyes were resting. At the same time, Meril and Heather turned around.

Cedric was standing there with a huge bouquet of pink carnations and delicate white snowdrop flowers. Heather jumped right to her feet.

"Flowers? You're so sweet, Cedric!" she squealed, throwing her arms around him.

"Flowers? I'm _allergic_ to pollen, Jayden!"

As one, Meril and her companions at the Hufflepuff table turned their heads to see what was going on. Jayden Abrams stood in the aisle between the Hufflepuff and Slytherin tables, offering a bouquet of flowers to his girlfriend, Jennifer Crisp, but she pushed them away.

"And I _hate _chocolate," she snapped. Unnecessarily flipping her long black hair over her shoulder, she withdrew herself from the table and stormed off, her chin high in the air.

Jayden stared after her, his arms falling to his side. Thankfully, he had sufficient pride not to chase after (though he was lacking enough to be dating her in the first place) and he handed off the flowers to a first year with honey-colored hair. Then, with the box of chocolates still in hand, he returned to his own table and ate them himself. And, Meril noted, he didn't look the least bit miserable. In fact, he looked pretty pleased.

"I wonder if he did that on purpose," Ashley said curiously, glancing over her shoulder at the Slytherin. "That'd be just like him."

"What do you mean?" Meril asked.

"Well, when he wanted to brake up with me," Ashley began, swallowing the bit of food in her mouth; this caught Jesse's attention.

He coughed abruptly, the water he had been drinking spraying across the table. "You dated him?"

"Oh, yeah. Just for a little while last year though. He was all into revenge on his father, though he would never explain why, and he was just so…Well, he's a real Slytherin, that's for sure. Anyway, soon after we started dating, it was clear he wanted to break up with me, but he never did anything. Then, he started to do things that he knew I wouldn't like to try to get _me_ to end things with him. And I did, because I wasn't happy with him and it clear he wasn't going to do it."

"When did you date him?" Jesse asked.

"At the beginning of last year. We didn't date publicly though. "

"Oh, well that explains why I didn't know. But that doesn't sound like him. He's a good guy. Sort of like Gabriel, actually."

"He is nothing like Gabriel," Ashley laughed, shaking her head. "He is a spiteful, manipulative, arrogant coward."

"Aw, Ash!" Cora objected. "That's not fair. I mean I've never actually talked to him before, but he doesn't seem so bad."

"Core, you see the good in _everyone_. Just believe me on this one…"

"Excuse me," Meril interjected, rising to her feet. "I'm going to go. It was nice talking to you all."

"Bye, Meril," Rome, Cora, and Ashley chorused.

"See you, Meril," Jesse said; he seemed a bit tense listening to Ashley bashing his friend, but he managed a small smile for Meril anyway. She smiled gently in return.

"Hate to interrupt your snog, but I'm going now," Meril whispered into Heather's ear; the blonde jumped, tearing away from Cedric with a startled expression.

"Merlin, Meril! Give a girl some warning!" Heather panted, stepping away from Cedric; he tenderly brushed a loose lock of hair from her face.

Meril grinned at her friend and turned towards Cedric. "Pleasure as always, Cedric," she said, nodding briefly at him.

"Likewise," he replied, his lips flickering into a smile as he nodded back at her.

With every intention of going up to the Common Room and finding her boyfriend—it was starting to get ridiculous; she had never gone a day at Hogwarts without seeing him—Meril headed out of the Great Hall with a skip in her step.

* * *

"Shh! You can't go over there!" a hoarse voice whispered as Meril stepped into the Entrance Hall. She turned to see the source of the voice and immediately frowned.

"Caleb, I am in no mood for your antics. I haven't seen my boyfriend all day and I am reall—"

He clamped his hand over her mouth and dragged her over to the other side of the Entrance Hall. He crouched down in the shadows and tugged on her sleeve in a suggestion that she do the same.

"This is my favorite part about Valentine's Day," he whispered. His gray eyes shone vibrantly as he stared outward. Meril followed his gaze and found Jayden—when had he left the Great Hall?—discussing something quite loudly with Jennifer.

"What is it?" Meril whispered in return.

"A fight—might even turn into a breakup if we're lucky."

"You're a bit of a cynic, aren't you?"

He shrugged noncommittally. "I just want my friend to be rid of that horrible creature. Plus, there's always something so ironic about seeing a relationship end on the "Day of Love." Wouldn't you agree?"

Meril just stared at him with a sudden respect. It was nice to hear someone else refer to Jennifer Crisp as a "horrible creature."

"—are you _really_ going to hold that against me? It was a gesture—a nice, romantic gesture! How was I to know that you were allergic to pollen? It isn't something that really comes up in conversation, is it? Unless it were the spring time and you were all sniffly and I asked you what was wrong! I'm not just going to randomly start discussing my allergies now, though, am I?"

"I never said that you should know," Jennifer replied stiffly. "I was merely telling you why I couldn't accept them."

"Oh that's a load of rubbish! Your tone said it all. And as for 'telling me why you couldn't accept them'…you practically tossed them back in my face!"

"I did not. I was just—"

"Stop trying to make excuses for yourself. It isn't as if this is the first time you dismissed one of the gifts I have tried to give you."

"I told you I was sorry for that!" Jennifer coolly replied; she certainly didn't sound so sorry anymore. "But I really don't think that I did anything wrong. You tried to put a choker on me—what was I supposed to do?"

"Let me, maybe?"

"It could potentially suffocate me and I don't think that's really safe."

"Oh why didn't she accept the choker?" Meril murmured; Caleb snickered.

"It's a piece of jewelry!" Jayden exclaimed, outraged.

"A _dangerous _piece of jewelry. Now as for the chocolate—"

"Oh, yes. How could I forget the _chocolate_?"

"I have made it perfectly clear that I do not like chocolate. I do not know why you insist upon buying it for me."

"Well, it's hard to remember when there are _so many other things_ that you complain about. I am bound to forget _something_ when all you ever have for me is a list of things you don't like. You don't like how my hair sticks up; how I look around when I talk; how loud first years are; how the portraits talk to us as we pass. I could go on an on about things you _don't _like, but I can't really say what you do like. "

"I—"

"And you are _always_ bossing me around and correcting me when I make even the slightest mistake. Ever since we've gotten back to Hogwarts, I've felt like I can't move in case I step in the wrong direction. It was such a relief that you understood me—that I could be myself around you and you understood. But now—" he took a deep breath "—I don't think I can date you anymore."

"What?" Jennifer asked sharply; I could see her cold eyes flashing.

"I still appreciate the time we spent together—that I could talk to you about my past and that you didn't judge me as 'just another Slytherin'—because I'm not; I know I can be cocky and arrogant, and I'm goal oriented and vengeful, but I'm not an ass. I know I'm not. And I'm glad you can see that, too. But…well, you have become just too unpleasant to be around, and I don't want to see you anymore."

"I—but—Jayden—"

"Sorry, Jen."

Jayden continued to stare at her, his hands thrust into his pockets as he waited for her to walk away. Already, his face looked lighter, as if a heavy burden had just been lifted from him.

Slowly, Jennifer walked away. A moment later, Caleb rose to his feet and then helped Meril to hers.

"And that's how to get it done," he murmured, grinning from ear to ear. He then emerged from the shadows, slowly clapping in a congratulatory way as he neared Jayden.

"Very nicely done," he complimented, a smirk on his face.

"Bravo," Meril agreed.

Jayden gave her an odd look before turning back to Caleb. "You watched?"

"Of course! What is Valentine's Day without some relationship drama? I thought I would watch mine first hand—and I am so glad I did. Jayden, you know how to get them done."

"I was only being honest. She got it—she could see that I wasn't a stereotypical Slytherin, but Merlin was she unpleasant! Why couldn't I have noticed that in the beginning? It would have saved me so much grief…I'm surprised my ears didn't fall off from all the nagging."

Caleb and Meril both laughed; once again, Jayden looked at Meril quite curiously.

"Right! Sorry, both of you. Jayden, may I introduce you to my dear friend—although she doesn't like to admit it—Meril Lizlow."

"I'm not your—" Meril protested, but she was cut off by Jayden.

"I know Meril. I've just never actually talked to her. Always took her to be…well, very prejudiced against Slytherins."

Before Meril had the chance to make a retort to that comment, Caleb took it upon himself to answer. "She is."

"Oh. Then what's she doing with you?"

"Well, even a hard-core Gryffindor like Meril can't resist my charms."

"Yes, that's it," Meril said sarcastically. "It's really more like he continually ambushes me and sucks me into horrible conversations or situations before I even know what's happening."

"Sounds like friendship to me," Jayden commented; he and Caleb shared a smirk.

"More like tolerance," Meril corrected. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a boyfriend to go find. He's been MIA all day."

"Uh-oh. Sounds like more relationship drama," Caleb teased. "This may just end up being a very good Valentine's Day for me."

"_Bye_ Caleb. Bye Jayden."

"Bye Meril; nice to see a Gryffindor actually open to having a civilized conversation with a Slytherin."

"Hey—Gryffindors aren't the only ones who are prejudiced," Meril said sternly.

"Yes, yes; of course not," Jayden said passively, rolling his eyes.

"Good luck with your boyfriend troubles," Caleb said, his gray eyes glinting metallically in the torchlight. "Which just reminds me of our conversation on the train—I knew you would end up with one of them."

"You aren't the first person who's said that to me today," Meril sighed.

"I just always thought it would be the other one," Caleb continued thoughtfully, paying no heed to the fact that Meril had spoken.

"What? I don't get why—oh, who asked for your opinion anyway!" Meril shouted grumpily. She frowned so deeply that wrinkles formed on her forehead. Without another word to either Slytherin, she spun around on her heels and marched up the stairs.

* * *

The Common Room was empty when Meril finally returned to Gryffindor Tower. She was sorely tempted to go off in search of Fred, but decided against it. She would be better off staying in one place where he could easily find her. She moved to go sit by the fireplace but quickly retreated. She had a better idea…

As she had suspected, the boy's dormitory was completely empty of any human life, though Meril wouldn't doubt that something else was starting to grow under one of the beds. Scott Gunderson was a surprisingly messy fellow; his sheets were in a heap at the foot of his bed; snack bags and boxes were pushed carelessly under his four-poster. His trunk was open, and its contents were all in a jumble. His clothes all lay at the bottom of his wardrobe in a heap, making it quite unclear what was clean and what was dirty.

Meril moved cautiously past his bed, afraid that if she made any sudden movements something—perhaps a rat, though maybe (she shuddered) a moth—would fly out at her.

Having thoroughly freaked herself out, Meril scrambled onto Fred's bed, which was significantly neater than Scott's, though she never would have thought it. Neither of the Weasley twins was particularly known for their neat habits. Fred's sheets were crooked, and there was a lump under the comforter, as if he hadn't bothered to pull one of his blankets up. Clothes poked out of his closed trunk; old papers and broken quills lay scattered beneath his bed.

Beside his, George's four-poster was hardly any better. His pillow was poking out of its scarlet case, and there was a large ink stain at the foot of his bed. His trunk was is shambles; everything was mixed together—books, spare clothes, quills, knick-knacks, and countless other items. Meril was thoroughly convinced that he hadn't sorted through it since the beginning of the year.

As Meril sat observing George's space, she failed to notice the sound of footsteps coming up the spiral staircase. Once she had finished, however, her head turned instinctively towards the doorway, and there stood George himself, looking stiff as a board. It was the first time they had been alone together in over a month.

"Want a chocoball?" Meril offered, extending the cellophane package towards him. "I just got them from Gabriel Wilm. He's a funny Slytherin, don't you agree?"

George, however, refused to answer either question. "I just came to get something," he instead said; his eyes barely flickered towards Meril as he passed her.

Meril heaved a sigh and put down the chocoballs. This was getting ridiculous—no, it was beyond ridiculous by this point.

"Why won't you talk to me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I just spoke to you."

"You know what I mean."

"No, Meril, I honestly don't." He stared at her for a full five seconds before returning his gaze to his trunk.

"It's a miracle you can find anything in there," Meril commented, attempting to lighten the air. She didn't know what was wrong with George, but there was nothing she could do if he refused to talk to her about it.

"Yes, well, I manage. It's surprising how many things I am capable of managing with, actually," he said sharply; Meril had heard him upset before, but it was nothing compared to the way he sounded then. He practically spat the words—Meril could feel them on her skin, burrowing deep inside of her.

At long last, George looked up from his trunk, though he held nothing in his hands. When his eyes met Meril's, they were cold as steel. Meril felt a shiver go down her spine; this was not the George that she knew.

He stepped towards Meril, and she had to force herself not to jump back away from him.

"Why didn't you just tell me? You had every opportunity to." His eyes flickered momentarily towards the ring on Meril's finger, and the steel-mask he had put up was momentarily put down and the hurt was easily visible in his eyes. Just as quickly as it had come, though, it was gone again.

Meril opened her mouth—she had no response ready, but she was prepared to babble until something sensible came out—but he spoke again before she could.

"I even asked you. I _asked _you, Meril! I asked if anything was going on between you and Fred, and you said no—you outright _lied_ to me."

"I didn't—"

"Don't tell me you didn't lie to me!" George roared; his face was bright red and flames were flickering in his eyes. "Don't tell me that you didn't lie to me when later that _very same day_ I caught you two snogging out in the hallway!"

"I know I lied to you," Meril said meekly. She wanted to talk more loudly—for her voice to be stronger—but something about his fury terrified her, reducing her to the mouse-like state she found herself in. "I didn't mean to. I just…" She took a deep breath, trying to steady her heart rate. "I didn't know how to tell you. I didn't know—I was afraid—I—"

"You _what_?"

"I was afraid of how you'd react. I wanted more time to…I don't know. I just wanted to be sure that you'd be okay with it."

"Why wouldn't I be okay with it?" His eyes flickered back towards the ring Meril was anxiously twisting around her finger—the beautiful white gold ring he had given her for her birthday.

"I don't know. Why don't you tell me? You're the one who's so upset that he won't even look at me. Don't think I haven't noticed. Ever since you found out, it's been like you've been looking past me. You haven't been acting like yourself at all."

"What are you talking about?" George insisted; there was no way he hadn't noticed his own off behavior. While at the Burrow was one thing—though Meril had her doubts about that, too—but for a whole month he had been acting differently. There was no way he didn't know.

"You know what I am talking about—don't play dumb with me, George Weasley."

He fell silent for a moment, his eyes cast down to the floor. Then, a mumble escaped his mouth—so quiet, Meril wasn't sure she had really heard it. "I don't know why you didn't just tell me."

Meril moved to get off the bed as George's eyes slid up to her face. She felt as if her heart was being pulled from her chest as she looked into those eyes. All she wanted to do was hug him and hold him until all that pain went away.

"I had no idea that it would upset you so much. I never should have lied to you about it. I'm so sorry. I—"

The fury had suddenly returned. "It isn't because—" he began to roar but he fell quickly short, his eyes shifting from Meril's face to the door frame. Meril followed his gaze, curious.

Fred's face brightened instantly as his eyes caught on Meril's. "There you are!" he exclaimed, sweeping towards her with his arms outstretched. "I've been looking for you all day."

Meril wrapped her arms around his sturdy frame and rested her chin on his shoulder. Her eyes followed George as he silently slipped out of the room. Had it been anyone else, this would have made sense. But this was George. The real George would have stuck around to tease them and get in the way. He wouldn't have given them any privacy.

"I know you don't have any expectations for today, but I couldn't resist getting you some candy—have to keep that sweet tooth satisfied!" Fred chirped.

Maybe Caleb was right. Valentine's Day wouldn't be Valentine's Day without some drama. But Meril wasn't having relationship drama—not the kind that Caleb had been talking about anyway.

"Here they are!" Fred said, brandishing a square box from behind his back. "There are all sorts of goodies in there; I know you'll love them." He leaned down and kissed Meril tenderly on the lips, then sweetly on the nose. "Happy Valentine's Day."

* * *

**a/n **Ah, so pretty big time jump, hm? I bet you aren't used to those with this story. It is more than time that I get a move on with this, though, and so here I am, doing it. There was some drama in this chapter, right? Some humor...I really didn't know quite what I was going to do with this chapter when I started it, but I hope it came out well. I particularly liked the end, but perhaps that is just me :)

Anyway, please review and let me know honestly what you think. I love feedback.

Thank you very much!

xox


	36. Gryffindor Versus Ravenclaw

**Chapter Thirty-Five—**  
Gryffindor Versus Ravenclaw

* * *

Harry Potter had the Firebolt—how he got it, no one knew, but after being stripped down and searched, it was clear that it was safe, and he was free to use it. Gryffindor was definitely going to not only win their next match, but the Quidditch Cup as well.

And Meril couldn't be any more jealous.

She sat silently in the stands at the team's last practice, huddled up in the sweater Mrs. Weasley had made her for Christmas. She wasn't sure how it was already March. Time was passing so quickly, Meril could barely blink before another week had wizzed by. Hadn't she just been sneaking around in the library with Fred? Hadn't she finally gotten her ban from the library revoked when Professor McGonagall learned it was preventing her from her work? Hadn't George just found out? Hadn't it just been Valentine's Day?

Meril winced as Harry caught the Snitch once again. How many times had it been so far this practice? The first time he had caught it in under ten seconds; since then, Meril had stopped timing it, but she still noticed each time that flash of gold disappeared into Harry's hand.

That gold…even now, sitting in the stands, her eyes caught on it, even for a second. The Seeker was still in her, itching to get her chance to play, but she knew she wouldn't. Not with a Firebolt on the team. Not with Harry Potter on the team.

Meril had never seen any of them play so well before—they were almost faultless. Of course, goals got in, which meant that Wood had failed to save, and goals failed, which meant that one of the chasers failed, but that was expected. Meril was mesmerized as she watched the game, not even noticing the early March chill around her.

She twisted her rings around her fingers thoughtfully as she watched the twins. George's words from Valentine's Day were still ringing in her ears. She could see his face—the hurt, the anger—looming in front of her. Things had barely improved from that day. He didn't avoid her anymore, but he was still distant—so distant that it physically hurt her.

Fred still didn't seem to notice.

At long last, the seven players touched back down. Oliver was stunned into silence; Meril suspected that she saw a grin on his face, though it was hard to tell—he was so far away.

"That was wonderful! Beautiful—really!" Oliver boomed, the excitement evident in his voice. "I have no criticisms. I'm just…" It sounded as if he was about to tear up, now; he stopped talking.

"Well, that's a first," George pointed out, grinning pleasantly as he rested his club on his shoulder.

"I can't see what's going to stop us tomorrow! Not unless—Harry, you've sorted out your dementor problem, haven't you?"

"Yeah," Harry replied, though it sounded as if his mind had suddenly drifted elsewhere.

"The dementors won't turn up, Oliver. Dumbledore'd go ballistic," Fred said confidently.

"Well, let's hope not. Anyway—good work, everyone. Let's get back to the tower…turn in early—" Oliver said, glancing at the castle

Harry said something in reply, but Meril didn't pay any attention to it. She slowly climbed her way out of the stands and followed the team into the locker rooms, hugging her arms to her chest as she went. Now that she wasn't watching the game anymore, she had time to notice the biting cold. It probably wasn't as bad as she thought it was, since everyone else seemed fine, but she couldn't stop shivering.

"Did you see us out there?" Fred exclaimed, swooping down on her as soon as she entered the room. He had a huge grin on his face as he grabbed her shoulders. The excitement was contagious; a huge smile slid easily across Meril's face.

"You guys were brilliant up there!" she sincerely proclaimed, looking around the room at each present member of the team.

"I can't wait for tomorrow! We are going to whoop Ravenclaw!"

"Of course you will," Meril assured him, smiling as she pat his shoulder. "You always do, don't you?"

"Not always," he said darkly. "Ravenclaw has a good team."

"But not as good as Gryffindor's. Now hurry along and get changed so we can go eat, eh?"

"Has the lion awakened again?" he teased, poking Meril's stomach; it growled loudly. His grin widened.

"If you don't hurry up, I will go up there without you." She raised her eyebrows at him, crossing her arms over her chest in an attempt to have Fred take her seriously.

"We can't have that; all of the food will be gone by the time we get up there! Everyone, out of my way!" Fred scrambled away from Meril, disappearing around a corner where Meril could hear him crashing into things in an attempt to quickly change. Meril laughed, taking a seat on one of the benches as she waited patiently—or tried to—for him.

"Wood had nothing bad to say," George commented in amazement, sitting down beside Meril and startling her. She hadn't been expecting him to just come over and talk to her. It seemed that he so rarely did that anymore.

"I know; it's amazing. Even when you all fly wonderfully, he has _something._"

"But not today." He grinned widely, his eyes crinkling at the corners as they were so apt to do.

"No, not today."

"It all came so naturally today. I mean, more so than usual, obviously," he laughed, flicking his head to the side, flipping his invisible hair over his shoulder. Meril giggled; George's smile expanded. She loved to see him smile and there had been a serious lack in it as of late. She was surprised by how overwhelming the urge to laugh and hug him was now that he was smiling like that again.

The best part was that Meril could see that he saw her again in that smile. His hazel eyes—more on the green side today, probably because of the red he wore—held her bright blue ones in a steady gaze.

A throat cleared, followed quickly by another.

Meril broke her gaze with George, her smile falling. She looked over her shoulder; Alicia and Angelina stood watching them, each wearing identical smirks and staring pointedly at Meril. Meril cocked an eyebrow, staring back at them.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing," they said in unison. They stared for another moment before turning and walking away. "We'll see you up at dinner."

And then it was just Meril and George, with Fred still around the corner somewhere, taking an inordinate amount of time to get changed. Meril glanced back at George, but he wasn't looking at her anymore, just staring down at his hands. His smile had gone, and his face was blank once more. Meril put her hand on his shoulder, but he didn't react; didn't flinch away, didn't smile. He just continued to stare at his hands.

"I'm ready! Let's go tame that lion!" Fred exclaimed, bounding back into the room. He grabbed Meril's hand, lifting her to her feet. "Let's go—you, too, George!"

George got to his feet slowly and walked along after Fred and Meril. For reasons unbeknownst to her, Meril did her best not to hold Fred's hand as the three walked along, but Fred's fingers kept finding hers, no matter how many excuses she found to pull away.

* * *

Meril was already eating breakfast when they came down—four boys, Ron amongst them, had formed a protective circle around Harry and his Firebolt, as if at any moment someone might break loose from their table and attack him, destroying Gryffindor's chances of winning the match.

Meril rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Fred, but he, like most of the Great Hall, had turned his attention to the broom. Although he had already seen it before—even seen it in action—his eyes glazed over in admiration.

"Meril—can I?" he whimpered, his face taking on a lost-puppy look.

"Fred, you've seen it before. I don't see why—"

"Put it here, Harry," Oliver's voice boomed, cutting Meril off mid-sentence. The Keeper laid the broom gingerly in the middle of the table, taking an inordinate amount of care in making sure that its name was facing up.

Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were soon crowding the table just to get a look at the broom, while the Slytherins all remained in their seats. Even from across the hall, Meril could make out the peevish expressions on their faces.

As Meril was jostled by the elbows of all the students trying to get a better look, her patience began to wane. She would have continued to sit in silent endurance, though, if it hadn't been for the hand which splattered in her food.

In their rush to see the broom, some first year accidentally knocked one of their mates over. In an attempt to catch himself from falling, the boy's hand landed in the middle of Meril's breakfast.

Of course, he ended up falling over anyway when, in an attempt to salvage her scrambled eggs, Meril shoved his arm out of her plate and he tumbled out into the aisle.

"I wasn't done with that!" Meril whimpered, staring down at her plate. She pushed the food around with her fork, but there was no rescuing it; the damage was done. Who knew where that boy's hand had been; surely no where Meril would eat from.

Thrusting the plate away from her as she got to her feet, Meril had had enough. She shoved her way through the mob—the wagering on the outcome of the match, the admiring, the congratulating—and stormed out into the Entrance Hall, where she could breathe properly again.

She wasted no time in sitting around, waiting for the crowd to form again as the school moved out of the Great Hall. She didn't need to see them forcing through the doorway as one, not paying any attention to the fact that the doorway, however wide, could not fit them all at once. Instead, she headed straight outside to begin to long trek up to the pitch.

It was a cool, clear day. A light breeze ruffled Meril's loose hair. It was the perfect day for Quidditch. Combined with the new addition to the team, Gryffindor's chances of winning were higher than Meril had ever seen.

The pitch was empty—peaceful. Meril took her time as she climbed the stands, searching for the perfect place to sit to get a good view of the game. This match would almost _ensure _Gryffindor the Quidditch Cup, and there was no way she was going to miss it, even if it all came down to Harry and his Firebolt in the end.

Meril didn't know how long she sat there for, but it didn't feel like very long before the rest of the school started to make its way to the pitch. She was about to seek out Heather to let her know where she was when Trey Carlton plopped down in the stands beside her.

"'Ello there!" he cheerfully greeted. He had a stack of toast wrapped in his sweater and a crust dangling out of his mouth. After stopping his glasses falling from down his nose, he held the stack out to Meril in offering.

"I just ate. But thank you."

"Of course," Trey replied, swallowing down the crust at last. "How have you been? Haven't seen much of you recently. Boyfriend been keeping you busy, eh?"

Meril shrugged. "I suppose so. But it might also have to do with the fact that we're in different houses…And that you're a sixth year, and I'm only a fifth."

He waved his hand dismissively. "Whatever the reason, the point is, I haven't seen you much since I met you, and that's a darn shame. I like you."

The way he said it made it sound as if this fact had surprised him—as if the reality that she wasn't a hateful _hag _had come as a real shock to him. She wondered what he had heard about her, and from whom the information came.

"I like you, too," she said simply in reply. "Heather should have introduced us sooner."

He waggled his eyebrows suggestively as he bit into another piece of toast. "Does your boyfriend know how you feel?"

"No, I haven't broken the news to him yet. You won't tell him, will you?" Meril said beseechingly as she grabbed onto his hand.

Trey's eyes widened behind his glasses. He glanced down at his hand, where Meril's fingers had wrapped around his knuckles, and back up to Meril's pleading face.

"Are you—you're not—you're joking, right?" he stuttered, his face turning a patchwork of red and white. His widened eyes were wincing noticeably, and a nervous smile was plastered onto his face.

"Joking? Why would I be joking?" Meril frowned.

"Well we barely—and you and Fred—and we _barely—_"

The corner of Meril's mouth twitched, and despite her best efforts, a snort escaped her. The next moment, she was bursting into laughter. "Of course I'm _joking_!" she exclaimed, releasing his hand from her grip.

"Bollocks, Meril! You scared me! I don't like you like **that**! I was afraid I was going to have to turn you down."

"I don't like you that way, either. But thank you for being so appalled at the very idea. That is a wonderful boost for my self-esteem."

"I didn't—you know I—it's just that—"

"There's someone else," Meril finished, sparing him from further stuttering.

"Yeah," he confirmed, his face flaring red again.

"Anyone I know?" she asked, though she suspected she already knew she answer.

"…Yes," he said hesitantly. "Though I—I can't say anymore."

Before Meril could make any attempt at a reply, a tall boy with broad shoulders and curly auburn hair came and sat down on the other side of Trey. Meril had the odd suspicion that she had seen him before, but she couldn't say where.

"Jesse and Caleb will be here soon," he announced, thumping Trey on the back. "You were pretty tough to find; I thought you'd be on the other end…what made you sit here?"

"I wanted to sit with Meril here," he said with a smile, patting Meril's shoulder.

"Meril?" the stranger questioned. Drawing his eyebrows together, he leaned forward to see around Trey. "Dungbombs?"

"That would be me…"

"I'm surprised you made the connection," Trey commented, "because I had no idea that she was the same person. I'd heard of Meril, and of course there was her party…but I just never thought she was that same…"

"Brat?" Meril filled in, a bemused smile on her lips.

Trey smiled sheepishly. "You remember that?"

"How could I forget?"

"I might not have made the connection if it weren't for Oliver," Trey's friend said loudly, inserting himself back into the conversation.

"Oliver?" Meril questioned.

"Yeah, he's my best friend. I'm Ryan Jugg, by the way," the boy said, extending his hand. It was a polite gesture, so Meril responded by giving his hand a shake and a "nice to meet you," but it was rather stiff. Meril didn't get the impression that Ryan Jugg had any intention of befriending her.

After a moment of careful scrutiny, she realized why he seemed familiar. "Are you one of the Hogs?"

"Yup," he replied with a short nod.

"I've been wondering who the Gryffindor was for a while now! It's weird that I should meet the one in my own house last."

"Yes, well, now you know."

Meril turned away, any interest in him gone. She didn't think any of the Hogs could give her a worse impression that Caleb had, but Ryan Jugg had succeeded where the others had failed.

The silence between the three lasted for several more minutes. Meril scanned the incoming crowds as they made their way into the stadium in hopes of spotting Heather out of the crowd. Her head was turned to the side, but she could feel a set of eyes boring into her.

"Your ears stick out oddly."

"Excuse me?" Meril blustered. She felt her face burning as she turned to face the speaker, but she couldn't tell if the comment made her more angry or embarrassed.

"Your ears stick out oddly," Ryan repeated.

"What makes you think it's okay to say that?" Meril squeaked, her eyes bulging. She could feel her face getting redder and redder as her blood got nearer to boiling.

"He's just playing!" Trey intervened, leaning forward so his head blocked Meril's view of Ryan. "This is what he does when he meets new people!"

"Well it's _rude!_ Do you just look for what's wrong with people? Is that what you like to see—the bad?"

"Everyone has flaws, and I just think they should be acknowledged outright," Ryan explained in a level tone. "As I find them, I point them out."

"What kind of terrible person _are _you?" Meril demanded.

"It's better to say something to a person's face than behind their back. I'm sure I'm not the first person to notice; what makes me worse than the people who haven't said it to your face?"

"You could just think about it in your head rather than saying it out loud."

Ryan looked ready to reply, but before he could, Caleb Stinson and Jesse Fujimaki appeared in the stands.

"Huggy-Juggy!" Caleb called out, running forward to meet the Gryffindor, which was possibly one of the most bizarre things which Meril had ever seen. Slytherins and Gryffindors didn't interact. It was an unspoken rule at Hogwarts, and to see it so blatantly disregarded was somewhat…unnerving.

_Of course, you talk to Caleb, too, _Meril realized as she gave him a wave. He was possibly the oddest Slytherin Meril had ever met. Similarly, Ryan Jugg was likely the least Gryffindor-like Gryffindor ever.

"Meril, Ryan—are you ready to _lose_?" Jesse asked, grinning widely as he took the seat in front of her.

"You _wish, _Jesse! Gryffindor is going to kick Ravenclaw's ass!" Meril exclaimed.

"Eh, we'll see," Caleb said, falling into the seat beside Jesse. "But I'm hoping it is Ravenclaw."

"Nah, Gryffindor all the way!" Trey exclaimed. Meril looked over at him, beaming.

"You're rooting for Gryffindor?"

Trey nodded. "We're two-and-two here, which is pretty unusual. Usually three of us are teaming up against the fourth."

"Shush you two! The match is starting!" Jesse exclaimed, pointing towards the field. The five all turned their attention to the green, where fourteen players were walking towards the middle. The stadium erupted into applause which lasted until the players kicked off into the air; after that, all was silent until Lee Jordan began his commentary.

"They're off, and the big excitement this match is the Firebolt that Harry Potter is flying for Gryffindor. According to _Which Broomstick_, the Firebolt's going to be the broom of choice for the national teams at this year's World Championship—"

"Jordan, would you mind telling us what's going on in the match?" Professor McGonagall interrupted reprovingly.

"Right you are, Professor—" Lee chipperly replied, then proceeding to continue his advertisement of the Firebolt. Meril unintentionally tuned him out as she became absorbed in the match.

Katie Bell scored the first goal of the match; Harry just barely avoided being knocked off his broom by a bludger, and George retaliated by slamming the bludger back to the offending Beater. Before Meril knew it, another seven goals had been scored by Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw still had nothing.

"Who's going to win now?" Ryan Jugg whispered in Jesse's ear rather snugly.

"The Snitch hasn't been caught yet."

Ravenclaw proceeded to score three goals, leaving Gryffindor only fifty points ahead, and Meril slightly nervous. Gryffindor couldn't afford to lose if they wanted to win the Cup. Which, Meril knew, was what they—particularly Oliver—wanted more than anything in the world.

Meril watched with interest as Harry and the Ravenclaw Seeker—the only female on the team—played cat and mouse. She was constantly tailing him and blocking him, and aside from misleading her once, he did very little to actually ward her off.

Harry pulled out of a very sharp dive and sped off towards the Ravenclaw end of the field, leaving the girl stuck in the dive he had tricked her into. Seeing what he was doing, she pulled out of the dive and accelerated after him. And then—

Three hooded figures glided onto the field. Meril looked at them, feeling dread at the sight of them, but no terrible chill took over her body. She looked at the figures again, then at Harry. He had whipped his wand out of his robes and pointed them at the figures. An enormous silvery-white figure erupted from the end of his wand and galloped towards the figures, knocking them out, but Harry had paid no mind. He continued onward, stretching his arm forward until his fingers closed over the Snitch.

The watch was over.

Gryffindor had won.

The cheers of the stadium overpowered the disappointment made by the Ravenclaws and their supporters. Meril clapped and cheered as loud as anyone, though her eyes were flickering towards the hooded figures.

Why hadn't she felt any cold?

Her answer came a moment later as the long black robes came off.

They weren't dementors at all. It was just four stupid Slytherins attempting to sabotage Gryffindor's chances at winning the Cup. Meril rolled her eyes; if they actually had a decent team, they wouldn't have to create pathetic schemes to up their chances.

"It's been lovely watching with you all," Meril said as she Trey, Jesse, Caleb, and Ryan reached the bottom of the stands, "but I have someone who I need to go congratulate."

Meril pushed through all of the bodies crowding around the Gryffindor team until she at last reached the center. As expected, both Fred and George were standing there, conducting the cheers and accepting any congratulations which came their way.

"Ahem," Meril cleared her throat as she stepped up behind them. As one, they turned around to face her, and grins broke across their faces. Fred stepped forward, sweeping Meril off the ground and planting a big kiss on her lips.

"We won!" he exclaimed as he set her back down.

"I know! Congratulations! George!" She turned to face the other twin, her grin widening. "You were incredible out there!"

"Thanks," he said with a sloppy grin. Then, flexing a muscle he added, "I was pretty good out there today. I think we owe the entire victory to me."

"Obviously," Meril agreed with a sardonic smile. "There should just be a party in honor of you!"

"I completely a—"

"Did I hear you say party?" Fred interrupted. Then, turning to face the rest of the crowd, he announced, "Party in the Gryffindor common room!" and trampled off, presumably, to the locker room.

Meril moved to follow after him, but stopped when she noticed George fighting his way over to Harry, and decided to stick with him.

"Come on, Harry!" George shouted as he finally made his way through the bodies to Harry. "Party! Gryffindor common room, now!"

"Right," said Harry. He followed George and Meril as they rejoined the rest of the team and, still in their scarlet robes, led the way back up to the castle.

* * *

You would think that Gryffindor had already won the Quidditch Cup the way they carried on that night. Fred and George disappeared for several hours and returned with their arms overflowing with butterbeers, pumpkin fizz, and Honeydukes sweets.

The common room had become a circus ring. There was music, dancing, and younger students running around, trying not to get underfoot. At one table, Fred and George were juggling bottles of butterbeer. Probably five separate games of Exploding Snap were going on at once, and two ambitious first-years were practicing their levitation spells, consequently lifting things which shouldn't have been lifted.

After she had more than her share of butterbeers in her, Meril found herself up on the coffee table with Alicia and Angelina. All three of them were singing bad karaoke, but none of them were singing the same song.

Lee somehow ended up with a lamp-shade over his head and flirted with every girl—and boy—he happened across, under the impression that every single one of them was Angelina.

When Fred and George lost interest in their juggling, they came and joined Meril, Alicia, and Angelina up on the coffee table and started to dance. An over-enthusiastic George accidentally hip-checked Alicia, knocking her off of the table. Angelina hopped off a moment later and collapsed on the sofa, frightening a few first and second years away.

As Fred pretended that he was swimming, George did a move which he said was called "The Monkey," though Meril didn't understand why it would have such a name. All he did was alternate his arms up and down.

"Let me show you what a real monkey looks like!" Meril demanded, latching onto George's wrist. "Stop it—_stop it!_ Now, feel free to copy my afterwards, but I doubt you can make it as authentic as I can. After all," she said, her face so close to his her eyes were crossed, "_you _have normal ears. Don't you?" She took a look at them both and tugged at his lobes. "Yes, they are quite ears. _My _ears stick out funny though. That's what…that's what _someone _told me."

"Who told you that?" George asked with a frown. He had not consumed nearly enough butterbeers for them to have any effect on him, and was so still quite in the right state of mind.

However, Meril paid no heed to his question. "I want to show you a monkey!" she exclaimed as she forced him onto his knees. Then, clambering onto his back, she ordered, "Stand up, and make sure you hold onto my legs! I don't wanna fall like—like—like Alicia did!"

"Meril, I don't think this is—"

"**Georg_ie_**!"

"Fine, fine," he grumbled. Holding her underneath the knee, he carefully rose to his feet.

Paying no heed to whether she was properly balanced or not, Meril removed both arms from their placement around George's neck and began to scratch her head and armpit simultaneously, howling as she assumed a monkey would. George cast a worried glance towards Fred, but the latter just seemed to find the whole endeavor hilarious, as did the rest of the Gryffindor house.

Feeling he might as well get some enjoyment out of this as well, George tightened his grip on Meril's legs and began to dance around in circles, chanting nonsense that no one understood, yet Meril got a riot out of anyway.

This was the moment Meril decided that it was time to stop acting like a monkey and to lay down to take a break. Only, instead of actually asking George to allow her to do so, she merely dropped her arms and allowed her body to fall backwards. George staggered under the unexpected fall, desperately trying to keep her from falling on her head. Meril, on the other hand, had no concept of the struggle, and so just continued to dangle, laughing merrily as she swayed about.

"Fred—some help?"

"What? Oh—right!"

Fred grabbed onto Meril's wrists and lifted her upwards so she lay horizontally in the air. She smiled up at Fred, her bright blue eyes twinkling with delight.

"Kiss me," she demanded.

"Mer, I don't know if that's the best idea," Fred protested.

"Please?"

Meril thrust out her lower-lip and stared beseechingly up at him. Fred looked around the room, sighed, and gave in.

"Alright," he consented. "I guess there's worse things I could be doing." So, being careful not to let his grip on her slip, he carefully lowered his face towards hers and gently pressed their lips together.

Meril beamed up at him before lifting her head to look at George. "Your turn, Georgie."

"My turn what?"

"Kiss!"

"Kiss…who?" he asked, his voice wary.

"Me, of course!"

"Meril, I don't think you're thinking clearly at all. Let's just put you down…Fred?"

Together, the two found her a comfortable place to rest in the corner. After it was clear that she would not be getting back up, they walked away, leaving her there.

Her eyelids suddenly felt very heavy. Meril yawned and willed her eyes to close the rest of the way. All her energy expended, she felt very peaceful as she lay there. Even when she heard the condescending tone of Ryan Jugg as he told her, "You have no control," it didn't matter, because by that time, she was already asleep.

* * *

Meril awoke with a start when a frightened shout pierced Gryffindor Tower. The Common Room was empty and dark, save for the dying embers in the fireplace. All was eerily still.

Meril felt around for her wand as she slowly sat up. Her heart was racing in her chest so fast she heard it echoing in her ears. Everything was so much scarier when you were alone on the dark.

She heard light footsteps padding across the floor and her breath caught in her throat. Desperately, she continued her search for her wand. Where had it gotten to? And how had she ended up sleeping in the Common Room anyway?

Oh, how she wished she was sleeping safe and sound in her bed. She was sure no harm would befall her up there. But what if someone had broken in? They had to get back out, and surely they'd need to come back through the Common Room.

Blue eyes leered at her through the darkness. Before Meril could react, the eyes, and whatever was attached to them, were flying towards her. The body landed hard on her chest, but it wasn't until Meril saw a faint white glow and felt the soft white fur that she realized it was just Pistachio.

"Thank Merlin!" Meril muttered. "But if it's just you right now—"

The sound of feet pattering down the stairs suddenly filled the tower. Doors were opening all over the tower, and the muted sounds of conversation found their way to Meril.

The door to the Common Room flung open, and five boys entered. Even with the dim lighting and eyes and mind still affected by the exorbitant amount of alcohol Meril had consumed, she could make out the vibrant red hair of a Weasley.

"Are you _sure _you weren't dreaming, Ron?"

"I'm telling you, I saw him!"

"What's all the noise?"

"Professor McGonagall told us to go to bed!"

Suddenly, boys and girls alike were reappearing in the Common Room, all yawning and looking both confused and irritated by the noise.

"Excellent, are we carrying on?" the voice of Fred Weasley said cheerfully.

"Everyone back upstairs!" Percy Weasley ordered as he pinned his Head Boy badge to the front of his robes. As if that would make the students would respect him anymore.

Cradling Pistachio to her chest, Meril got to her feet and slowly joined the rest of the students. Her legs were wobbling, and her vision was hazy; she nearly fell over several times in the short distance it took to reach them. Percy gave her a particularly reproving look, confusing Meril. What had she done that had been so upsetting? She didn't recall doing anything outrageous or offensive…

"Perce—Sirius Black! I our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!" Ron announced earnestly, his voice barely above a whisper.

The Common Room went very still; Meril nearly toppled over, but Fred caught her by the arm, just before she could fall.

"Nonsense!" said Percy after a moment. "You had too much to eat, Ron—had a nightmare—"

"I'm telling you—"

"Now, really, that's enough!"

Professor McGonagall's sharp voice cut through the tension like a knife, forcing everyone back to the present. The professor slammed the portrait behind her and looked about the room crossly.

"I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!"

"I certainly didn't authorize this, Professor!" Percy said indignantly, his eyes flickering briefly in Meril's direction, then towards Ron, before returning to the professor. "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! My brother Ron here had a nightmare—"

"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" Ron bellowed. "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Weasley, how could he possibly have gotten through the portrait hole?" Professor McGonagall replied almost dismissively.

"Ask him! Ask him if he saw—" Ron retorted shakily, pointing an accusatory finger in the direction of Sir Cadogan's portrait.

Professor McGonagall stared suspiciously at Ron for a moment before returning out into the corridor. The Common Room took a collective breath and waited, silent, for the outcome.

"Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?

"Certainly, good lady!" Sir Cadogan cried, sounding almost astounded by the very question.

The silence continued. Meril gripped Fred's elbow tightly, staring nervously up at him. He returned the look, too stunned to speak.

"You—you _did_? But—but the password!" the professor stuttered, too stunned to even reprimand. Meril had never heard her like this; it made her even more anxious.

"He had 'em! Had the whole week's, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!"

Professor McGonagall returned to the Common Room a moment later, her face white as a sheet of paper. She faced them, the silence extending for several minutes. Finally, in a shaking voice, she said, "Which person—which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?"

A terrified squeak broke the silence which followed the question. Meril watched as a trembling hand was slowly risen into the air, extending over the crowd.

* * *

No one slept that night. Meril curled up beside Lee on the sofa and stared into the fire with glazed eyes. She had never felt—nor had she ever seen Fred, George, or Lee—so subdued. Angelina and Alicia could barely even speak.

Meril had learned that the boy who had written the list was a Neville Longbottom, a third year with large ears and a round face. Before leaving to conduct the search for the convict, Professor McGonagall enforced that no one, under any circumstances, was to tell him the passwords.

At dawn, McGonagall returned, informing the students that Black had escaped once again. But after that, every precaution was taken to make sure he didn't break into the school again. Professor Flitwick was teaching the doors to recognize a photo of Black; Filch was patrolling the corridors like never before, sealing anything which resembled a possible entry. Sir Cadogan had been replaced by the Fat Lady, who only returned on the promise of security trolls.

After the second attack, the threat of Sirius Black seemed all to real to most of the Hogwarts population. Meril could barely remember the majority of that night—though she had earned the new nickname "Monkey," somehow—but she could still remember the fear she felt, and the chalky white complexion of Professor McGonagall's face as she reentered the Common Room.

Meril had been hoping for adventure when she returned to Hogwarts, and by the looks of it, she had more or less gotten her wish. It just didn't feel as good as she had thought it would.

* * *

**a/n** So, here it is at last: Chapter Thirty-Five. It's been a few months since I have updated, and I am sure that this was not nearly as exciting as you may have been hoping. However, this is just a boring chapter, really. I was stuck on it for a while BECAUSE of just how boring it was. Nothing happens, honestly. But, since I am jumping around more, I still want to make the jumps smaller, so things like this end up happening. The end of this story is in sight, however! I have a few things marked off in PoA to include, and some of those can probably be combined into chapters...but still, it's only a few left, and I am going to try to make them come as quickly as possible, because I am just really excited to start the next one. :)

In any case, I hope you enjoyed, and reviews are always accepted and appreciated :)

Oh, and one last thing: As it so happens every now and then, there are lines which come directly from PoA, and I claim NO RIGHTS TO THEM AT ALL.

Thank you :)


	37. April Fools'

**Chapter Thirty-Six—**  
April Fools'

* * *

Mrs. Weasley giving birth to Fred and George was God's eternal April Fools' joke on the world.

All of Gryffindor Tower—with the exception of Hayley Dobson—was woken up around dawn on April 1 by the crowing of several cocks. The cacophonous noise startled Meril out of her bed, sending her crashing to the floor, as she was so apt to do. Thinking Meril was the source of all the commotion, Alicia hurled a pillow across the room at her, missing and instead hitting Caitlin Haelstrome, who awoke in a fury.

"Oh, no. There is no bloody way I am going to lay here and listen to this," Angelina grumbled, angrily throwing her sheets from her and getting to her feet. "Meril, come with me!"

"I…can't…move," Meril grunted. "Oh my head…"

Angelina's hand reached into the cocoon, latched onto Meril's wrist, and wrenched her to her feet. Meril hadn't even caught her balance yet when Angelina started to drag her down the spiral staircase.

"I know your boyfriend has something to do with this," she grumbled, barely audible amidst all the chaos; the roosters were still crowing, and all down the staircase, people were complaining and shouting, though no one bothered to do anything about it.

The Common Room was a mess. Roosters—real live roosters—had infiltrated Gryffindor Tower and made themselves quite comfortable. They were all over the furniture, leaving "presents" wherever they saw fit. Malted feathers created a thin film over the floor. Stranger still, piles of Bertie Botts' Every Flavor Beans were dispersed throughout the room. The roosters, when not crowing, would find a mound of Every Flavor Beans and peck at them.

"What should we do?" Meril whispered. Angelina was still clenching her wrist, so with her free hand Meril latched onto Angelina's elbow. Her eyes widened in terrified shock as she watched one rooster picking at a pile of Bertie Bott's. His head was barely more than a blur from the rapidity of his movement.

"That's just not natural," Angelina muttered, also fixated by the bizarre rooster. But she didn't let it bother her for long. Releasing Meril's wrist and prying herself away from her grasp, Angelina took a step forward. At once, the roosters stopped what they were doing and turned towards her. She reached for her wand decisively, but found that it was not in her pocket as she had imagined.

"Oh, bollocks! Meril, I left my wand up in the dormitory. I'll go back to get it. Meanwhile, you should go pay a little visit to your boyfriend to see what he's playing at. Roosters in the Common Room! This isn't a bleeding barn yard!"

Angelina sprinted up the spiral staircase two at a time. Meril moved to obey her friend's demand when an agonized scream stopped her at the foot of the stairs.

"**_Meril_**!"

Meril would recognize that roar even if she wasn't standing at the bottom of the boy's staircase. The over-pronunciation of the 'meh' sound, and the way the voice cracked at the 'i.' It could be no one other than—

Lee Jordan came storming around the final bend in the staircase a second later, a most peculiar hat upon his head. "Mornin' Lee!" Meril chirped.

"Do you recognize _this_, Meril?" Lee demanded, thrusting his finger in the direction of his fuzzy white hat.

"No, I can't say I do, soldier. It's a peculiar choice, but it's growing on me."

"Growing on _you_?" he scoffed. "I think it's growing on _me_. I've been trying to get her off, but the little bugger has dug her claws into my scalp. I am _bleeding_ Meril."

"Is that—?" Meril began haltingly. She blinked a few times, rubbed her eyes, and stepped closer. And as it turned out, Lee's fuzzy white hat was not a hat at all. "Pistachio?"

"Bingo! Your cat decided that it would be appropriate to launch herself at my head. I think something about my dreadlocks attracted her, because I feel her chewing on them. See?" He had to pivot his entire body so he wouldn't disturb Pistachio, which would only make her hold on tighter. And sure enough, Pistachio was chewing rather intently on one of Lee's dread locks. She looked very comfortable.

"Isn't she cute?" Meril cooed, scratching the white mass of fur behind the ears.

"Adorable. Would you mind taking her down? I'm sure she'd love to see her Mommy."

At six and a half months old, Pistachio was very independent. She wandered the castle as she liked, and the only thing which really kept her coming back to Gryffindor Tower was her food and, very seldom, to sleep with Meril. So, Meril sort of doubted that Pistachio would love to see her "Mommy."

"I think it would be better if you just waited it out, Lee."

"Wait it out? _Wait it out_? Meril, she is kneading her claws into my skin!"

"I'm truly sorry to hear that, but we've got bigger problems on our hands." She led him to the archway and pointed out into the Common Room, where the roosters were still strutting about.

"That's brilliant!" Lee laughed.

"Brilliant?" Angelina had suddenly returned, wand in hand and looking even grumpier than before. "Meril, did you go up to yell at Fred and George? Because it looks like you've just been standing here."

"Well Lee came down, and he had a problem he wanted to discuss with me." Meril stared pointedly at her cat, still perched on top of Lee's head, but Angelina refused to acknowledge it.

"I think we have more pressing matters to worry about than Lee's vast troubles. There is only so much we can do for him, but we can put a complete end to the situation in the Common Room, and with any luck, we can go back to our beds and finish sleeping!"

"I don't care for your implications, Miss Johnson! The only problem I have is that Meril's cat has made both a bed and a chew toy out of my head!"

For the first time, Angelina noticed the white furry mass curled up on top of Lee's head. The corners of her lips quivered a moment before twitching into a smile.

"I think you look quite dapper. Most people would criticize the use of live cats as hats, but I think it's very clever. Could you do a little twirl for me?"

There was something about the combination of twirling and the crowing of the roosters which set Pistachio off. She wiggled her butt in the air and pounced; Lee screamed again as her rear claws dug into his head and ripped themselves back out.

Pistachio's presence in the Common Room caused quite the disturbance. As soon as he launched off of Lee's head, the roosters started to panic. The crowing got louder as they flapped their wings frantically and attempted to fly away with little success. Pistachio ran through the heaps of Every Flavor Beans, scattering them to the darkest curves of the room, likely never to be seen again.

After much hissing, clucking, chasing, and flying, Pistachio finally caught hold of one rooster's leg. The rooster struggled, but it was futile; Pistachio pinned him to the ground, and Meril looked away so she wouldn't have to see what came next.

"Well, I think Pistachio can take care of this problem for us," she said.

"So in addition to the beans, malted feathers, and poo, now there's blood and dead carcases, too," Angelina complained. "Bloody perfect, isn't it?"

"But I don't see any blood," Lee commented, craning his neck to get a better look around the couch. "It looks clean."

"That's peculiar." Meril frowned. The rooster was no longer moving, but there was no sign of any blood.

Pistachio pounced on another rooster, and this time Meril didn't turn away, not even as she gave what should have been a fatal bite. But rather than bleeding out or dying, there was a small puff of smoke, and the rooster lay limp. Pistachio looked confused, batted at the body, and then move on to her next victim.

Lee approached the most recent kill and knelt down beside it. He poked it warily a few times before saying, "Well, it's just as I predicted." He then chuckled, shaking his head. "Brilliant. That's really ace."

"What's so brilliant?" Angelina demanded, growing increasingly more irritable as the seconds wore on.

"They're rubber! They were transfigured into real roosters, but once they were killed they turned back into rubber. _Brilliant."_

"Well it's a good thing we have Pistachio here, because I never would have killed the chickens." Meril knelt down beside what was once a rooster and laughed. It was obvious that it was rubber now that it had been pointed out, but she had truly been dreading cleaning up a dead rooster carcass. "Genius."

"Clever or not, I will whoop Fred and George if neither of you will." Angelina stifled a yawn. "After I finish sleeping."

"Naturally," Meril said with a smile.

"Sleep tight, beautiful," Lee said, tossing a rubber chicken over his shoulder and sending her a wink.

Angelina was shaking her head as she stalked away, but Meril could have sworn she saw the faintest trace of a smile hidden on her friend's lips. Lee openly watched as she walked away.

"She isn't going to have much time to sleep though. Breakfast will be starting soon, and Easter Break doesn't start until Sunday."

"Something tells me that she will not be one to cross today," Meril said pointedly.

Lee chose to ignore this remark. "Shall we go wake up Fred and George then?"

"_If_ they're even asleep. I don't know how anyone could sleep through that—even Hayley must have woken up."

"Well, they're probably exhausted after setting all of this up. Even for them, it must have taken ages." He gave Meril's elbow a gentle tug. "Come on then."

The two trampled noisily up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. As they entered, there was a loud '_thud_!' followed by a drawing of a set of curtains.

"What's Monkey doing up here?" the voice of Scott Gunderson demanded from behind the curtains. Without waiting for an answer, he continued, "This is the boy's dormitory! You can't just parade her in here whenever you like!"

"He's getting changed," Shane O'Gorman explained casually from where he sat, fully clothed, at the foot of his four-poster bed.

"And I'd like some privacy _please_!" Scott exclaimed, his voice unnaturally high. Meril smirked as she ran her hand along his curtains.

"I really make you uncomfortable, don't I Scott?"

"At this particular moment? _Yes._"

"At any given moment…." Shane murmured. Meril caught his eyes, and the two shared a smile. He had plucked the words straight out of her brain. Meril had always thought that he acted differently towards her, but the difference became even more marked once she returned to Hogwarts. He had always been proud, loud, overly confident, and outrageously flirtatious—even with Meril. Now he couldn't attempt to flirt with her without looking away and revoking his statement, and he was hiding behind curtains when before he would have changed openly.

Yes, Meril decided, Scott Gunderson was an odd duck.

"Well, Scott, you were the whole reason I came up here, but since you're hiding from me, I might as well leave…" Meril sighed.

"Well, I wouldn't want to deny you the pleasure of seeing me," he said hesitantly If you could just—"

Without waiting for him to finish his sentence, Meril ripped open the curtains, revealing a half-dressed Scott standing hunched over on top of his bed. He had been attempting to button up his shirt when the curtains had been pulled apart, but now he was just scowling.

"If this is your idea of an April Fool's joke—"

"—then I would have a very poor sense of humor," Meril finished, smiling. "I just wanted to see why you were hiding from me. From what I see, there's no reason."

Scott glanced down—probably to make sure that he was actually wearing pants—and then looked back at Meril, though he wouldn't quite catch her eye. "I was just startled by your entrance."

"I don't believe that. It's not like I never come up here."

"Well, I'm not usually trying to get changed when you do."

"You just don't like me—admit it."

Scott looked startled. "What makes you say that?"

"_You _do."

"And what do you mean by that?"

Meril heaved a sigh, shook her head, and rubbed her brow. "Never you mind. Just carry on with…whatever you were doing."

"Right. Excuse me." Scott attempted to squeeze in between Meril and his bed post, and cringed visibly when he brushed against Meril's arm. He hurriedly grabbed his tie, sweater vest, robe, and shoes, bundled them all in his arms, and rushed out of the dormitory. "See you chaps later! Bye Monkey!" Scott called after him.

Meril stared at the doorway in disbelief. "And he doesn't know what I'm talking about? Did you see that?" She turned towards Shane, who was hovering in the breach between his bed and the door.

"You have to excuse him. He's…" Shane paused a moment to search for an apt description for what Scott was. "You'll just have to excuse him."

"I probably shouldn't even try to understand, should I?"

"No, I doubt it's worth it." He glanced out the doorway, and then at his watch. "I should probably get going."

"Right. Go ahead. I'll see you later."

"Cheers!"

He exited and Meril turned around to face her friends. Lee had found his way back to his bed and had his face buried in his pillow, presumably asleep. Deciding to leave him alone, Meril crept towards Fred. He was spread-eagle on his bed, his sheets tangled in his legs. Meril sat down tentatively on the edge of his bed and brushed his hair away from his eyes. His eyes flitted open at her touch, his long fair lashes tickling her finger tips.

"G'morning, Monkey." Fred smiled readily as he slowly lifted himself up.

"Are you ever going to explain why people keep calling me that?" Meril asked lightly. The stray hair fell over his eye again and she moved to brush it away, but Fred caught her hand.

He pressed his lips first against her palm, and then her fingers. "No."

"It's not mean, is it?" Meril frowned, her fingers automatically finding her ears. At the last Quidditch match, Oliver's best friend and the Gryffindor member of The Hogs had decided to inform Meril that she had funny ears, and Meril had been sensitive about it ever since.

Fred reached forward, placed Meril's hands in her lap, and caressed her ears fondly. "No, it isn't mean." He leaned forward smiling. "Now how about a birthday kiss?"

Meril placed two fingers over his lips and shook her head. "Not until you take care of that morning breath." She still had her fingers pressed over his frown as she stood up. To appease him, she kissed him gently on the top of the head before moving over to George's bed.

George didn't receive the same tender wake-up call that his twin did; that was a privilege meant only for Meril's boyfriend. Instead she sat forcefully on the foot of his bed and began tickling his exposed feet. He let out a small giggle, gave one feeble kick, and went limp.

Meril frowned; she had not foreseen this flaw in her plan. She had assumed that everyone was painfully ticklish in the same spots: the feet and…What was the other spot? She thought for a moment, recalling where her father would touch that would make her squirm. Feet, knees, ribs, and _armpits._

Her eyes were drawn towards George's torso. He was slightly twisted, his head cocked to the side, and both arms over his head, hands tucked under his pillow—armpits perfectly exposed. Meril crawled along the edge of his bed until she could reach his under arm. Smiling devilishly, she reached across him to his other side and began to violently tickle both armpits. George writhed about in his sleep, chuckling until Meril moved the tickling down to his ribs. He then awoke with a gasp, laughing painfully hard.

"Gerroff!" George insisted between gasps of laughter. He attempted to shove away Meril's hands, but she held firm. It wasn't until he began to retaliate that she finally relented. "Blimey, Meril! You're barmy!"

Meril grinned and sat up so she was no longer stretched across him. "Happy Birthday, Georgie."

"Thanks, Meril." He opened up his arms and lifted his eyebrows suggestively.

Meril hesitantly moved into his arms. His warm breath hit her gently in the face as she rested against his shoulder. "_George_ doesn't have morning breath, Fred! Maybe I should just give him your birthday kiss," Meril teased.

In response, Fred leapt across the gap between his bed and his twin's and tackled Meril who was still in the middle of her hug with Fred. The twins exchanged a look and smirk before simultaneously initiating a second round of tickle attacks.

Meril was laughing and crying so loudly, it barely took a minute for Lee to stir. He lifted himself up, took one look at the three, and rolled his eyes as he walked out of the dorm.

"I'll leave you lot to that. But you're all off your trolleys, I hope you know."

* * *

There were still beans scatter all over the Common Room when Fred, George, and Meril made their descent from their dorms, deeming it was time for breakfast. The bird droppings and malted feathers had also remained untouched, leaving the Common Room looking like a chicken coop.

Fred and George exchanged satisfied grins and gave each other congratulatory slaps on the back which they thought Meril didn't notice. They were still attempting to keep their role in the dawn prank a secret, but nobody had any doubts that it had been them.

"What's with the beans?" Fred inquired, sending a wink to his twin.

"Oh, come off it," Meril said impatiently. "You aren't fooling anyone."

"Whatever do you mean?" George asked innocently.

"You know exactly what I mean, and you know exactly why all of the beans and the feathers and the droppings are everywhere."

The twins hesitated a moment before allowing their grins to stretch proudly across their faces and saying in unison, "Of course we do."

"They made quite a mess of things, didn't they?" Fred observed, nodding approvingly as he scanned the circular room.

"Did you see the message in the beans?" George wondered.

Meril scrunched up her face in concentration, trying to remember anything other than the panic of roosters from that morning. She remembered there were beans, of course, and she remembered the rapidity with which the roosters ate them, but a message? No, she didn't recall anything about that. She shook her head.

"Damn. Well, it was supposed to say—"

"April Fool's. We should have been more careful."

"We'll do better next time."

"_Please_ don't let there be a next time," Meril cut in, looking towards the ceiling pleadingly.

Fred laughed, bending down and picking up one of the rubber chickens. He waved it in his girlfriend's face tauntingly. "Chicken pranks not your cup of tea?"

"No, I prefer Earl Grey," Meril retorted, sticking her tongue out at him and swatting away the chicken as she led them towards the portrait hole. She was about to push through when it opened, revealing Professor McGonagall. The rubber chicken dropped to the floor.

"Good morning Professor!" Meril chirped as Fred and George edged closer to her, trying to block the disaster that was the Common Room from view.

Professor McGonagall looked Meril up and down suspiciously, her lips tightly pursed as ever. Evidently deciding Meril was doing nothing wrong, she nodded. "Good morning, Miss Lizlow; Misters Weasley." Her tone was still cautious.

"To what do we owe this pleasure?" Fred smiled charmingly and put his arm around Meril's shoulder, closing any gaps McGonagall would have been able to sneak a peek through.

McGonagall's eyes narrowed distrustfully at the three of them. "What are you three up to?"

"Why must we _always _be up to something?" George asked with an injured expression.

"Because you always are."

"We were just on our way down to breakfast," Meril interjected before either of the twins could give her any more reason to suspect them of anything. "Did you know it was their birthday?"

Professor McGonagall looked at the twins warily. "Is it now?" she sighed. "I suppose a 'happy birthday' is in order then. Now if you'll excuse me—"

"What's that?" Meril pointed at the slip of paper in the professor's hand curiously.

Professor McGonagall handed it to her. She quickly looked it over as the twins read over her shoulder.

**Career Advice**

**All fifth years will be required to attend a short meeting with their Head of House during the first week of the Summer term, in which they will be given the opportunity to discuss their future careers. Times of individual appointments are listed below.**

Meril scanned the list of appointments until she found hers for April 11th, the first Monday after the week long Easter break.

"Well, we can put this up for you!" Fred offered, taking the paper from Meril's hands. "Wouldn't want to trouble you…"

"We're sure you have much more important things to do," George added, nodding emphatically.

McGonagall's eyes narrowed until they were mere slits. "What are you three hiding?"

"Hiding?" Meril squealed. "We aren't hiding anything. We just thought we'd save you the time—"

"If you were really worried about wasting my time, you wouldn't have held me up here for the past five minutes. Now, if you will _please_ excuse me, I will take this notice and put it on the board myself."

Professor McGonagall forced her way between the three and made her way towards the notice board. Meril, Fred, and George scrambled out of the portrait hole before their professor had any time to register the mess before her. They sprinted down the corridor as fast as they could, but they could still hear her roar of outrage.

"You'll be paying for that later!" Meril laughed gleefully. They were taking the stairs two at a time, still trying to gain as much distance as possible from the livid professor.

"_Us_? Meril, if you believe she won't pin it on you, too, you are sadly mistaken," George snickered.

"You were acting just as guilty as us," Fred put in.

"If you two think I will be taking any trouble for you—"

"As if we'd let you!"

"We put in too much hard work to let you take any credit for it!" George scoffed. He pushed open the large doors to the Great Hall and the three entered, stomachs growling.

Lee was already half way through his breakfast when they took the three empty seats surrounding him. He grinned through his mouthful of bacon. "Took you lot long enough. I was waiting for you in the Common Room, but you took so long I just gave up and came down here."

"S'alright," said both twins in unison, stacking food onto their plates quite generously.

"We were busy," George explained.

"When Meril went to get dressed—" Fred began.

"Fred and I came up with a plan."

"For a game."

"A competition, really."

"In honor of April Fool's Day."

"And our birthday."

Meril and Lee shared an apprehensive look.

"Well, let's hear it then!" exclaimed Lee after a moment's pause.

"It's a prank competition," George started, "to see which of two teams can successfully complete the most pranks today."

"The teams would be comprised of two members each, naturally. And, of course, it would be the two of you—" Fred gestured towards Meril and Lee—"and the two of us."

"That's not fair!" Meril protested immediately.

Fred and George wore identical grins as, once again, they spoke simultaneously, "Why? Afraid you're going to lose?"

A blush rose on Meril's cheeks and crept to the backs of her ears. "No!"

"Good. Then let's set up some parameters. You know—rules and whatnot," Fred said in an all-business manner. He shoved a forkful of eggs into his mouth.

"You two want to set up rules?"

"Well, we trust ourselves not to do anything unfair," George clarified.

"But who knows what foul tricks you two might try to pull?" Fred said with a shrug.

"It's alright. We wouldn't blame you. After all, you're against us."

"So these are just to ensure that everyone plays fairly."

"You two are a little cocksure, aren't you?" Lee commented with a competitive chuckle. Under the table, he and Meril grasped hands in solidarity. It would be great to see their faces when they beat them, as they were now determined to do.

"So, what are these rules?" Meril asked.

"Firstly, for your prank to count, it must not be discovered until its completion," George listed.

"If it is a general prank, that means not a single person can know that it was you, or put a stop to it. If it's an ongoing prank, it must complete at least one cycle of the prank. If it is a prank pulled on an individual, that person must not know who pulled it," Fred expanded.

"Secondly, there has to be a time frame for this to be completed in so that we can tally up our wins."

"We were thinking dawn to dessert. That seems like ample time, doesn't it?"

"That means we're counting your rooster stunt," Lee pointed out.

"Should we count that? That was pulled before the beginning of our competition. And you said you wanted to play fair…" Meril trailed off.

"If either of you had woken up and done anything, that would have been counted, too," Fred countered.

Lee opened his mouth to argue, but before he could say anything, Meril put her fingers over his lips. "It's their birthday—let's just give that to them. We can make it up."

"Fine," Lee grumbled.

"Jolly good!" George chirped. "Thirdly, sabotage is allowed."

"If it can be sabotaged by one of us just passing by, then it clearly wasn't good enough anyway. However, we can't go snooping around for each other's."

George nodded sagely. "Lastly, honesty is key."

"We won't have time to check up on you and your pranks throughout the day, just as we imagine you won't have time to look in on us. So, after dessert, when we tally up our successes, be honest. Also, keep up with the state of your pranks on your own."

"Does that sound reasonable?"

Lee and Meril nodded in assent, and then the four shook on it. Meril made to return to her breakfast, but Lee grabbed her by the wrist and lifted her to her feet.

"There's no time for eating! We have to get started!" Lee hissed as he attempted to pull her away; Meril was hanging onto the edge of the table, staring longingly at her food. Her stomach rumbled. Lee gave another forceful yank, and her grip on the table was released as she went stumbling towards him.

"Wait!" Fred exclaimed. He stood up abruptly, nearly knocking George and a frightened looking second year off the bench as he scooted it backwards. He reached across the tables and grabbed Meril by the fingertips. "Before you take her away, there's something she needs to know."

Lee hesitated for a moment before sighing and releasing her. Fred guided her back towards him by her fingers. He leaned forward just as she did and announced, "My morning breath is all gone."

"Well, then you know what it's time for," Meril laughed. She placed her hand on the side of his face as the other hand supported her on the table and placed a careful kiss on his lips. "Happy Birthday, Fred."

* * *

Lee had dragged Meril all the way to the library, where they spent the rest of their library discussing what their first prank would be, and when they would perform it. It was agreed that it would need to be as soon as possible, as it was likely that the twins already had a full day of pranks planned out.

When the bell rang and it was time to go to their first lesson of the day, Lee and Meril bustled off to History of Magic, still speaking in hushed tones. They huddled beside each other in the middle of the classroom, separating themselves from the twins for once, and wrote furiously to each other, finalizing their plans.

_I'll leave ten minutes early, claiming I don't feel well, and I'll run up to my dormitory to get what we need._

Lee nodded and wrote back immediately, _**When should I meet you?**_

_In between lessons. Entrance Hall. Then we can go to Charms together through one of the lesser used corridors._

_**I know the perfect place. Just make sure you hurry. We can't be late, or we'll look suspicious.**_

_I know, I know. I'll go as fast as I can._

Lee tore up the scrap of parchment into tiny pieces and shoved it into the bottom of his bag. For the rest of the lesson, he and Meril sat anxiously, neither one listening to what Professor Binns was droning on about, and each taking turns looking at the clock.

At long last, only ten minutes of the lesson remained. Meril promptly stood up, one hand clutching her stomach with the other one over her mouth. Professor Binns neither noticed or cared until Shane O'Gorman interrupted the lecture to point it out.

"Yes, Miss Lowell?"

"I don't feel well," she choked out, then pressed her fingers against her mouth. "May I go to the Hospital Wing?"

When the ghost did not respond, Meril forced her shoulders to heave forward. Everyone seated around collectively moved away from her. Scott Gunderson squeamishly called out, "Let her go!"

"Yes, alright, Miss Lauper. Go ahead. As I was saying…" Professor Binns continued to drone on about the lesson, but everyone was watching Meril as she ran for the door. Just in case anyone stopped to question her, she kept one hand over her mouth as she sprinted Gryffindor Tower.

"_Billywig_," she panted, finally reaching the Fat Lady. Bewildered, the portrait swung forward, admitting her into the Common Room. Meril didn't even pause as she scrambled through the portrait hole and rushed up to her dorm.

At the bottom of her trunk she found what she was looking for—a small pouch of money, filled mostly with knuts and sickles. She pocketed it and took a peak at her watch. Five minutes. She still had some time. Deciding that she would draw less attention if she moved more slowly, she made her way down to the Entrance Hall at a leisurely pace until the bell rang.

The Entrance Hall was crowded with students milling about, wasting time on their way to class, but Meril easily spotted Lee, standing alone by a suit or armor by the large oak entrance doors. She hurried towards him, grabbed his elbow, and set off again.

"You're sure you know the incantation?" Lee muttered.

"Yes, I've been using it on t-shirts since our first year," Meril replied. She handed him the money pouch. They turned down a less crowded corridor, and Lee began to drop knuts and sickles sparingly, forming a trail behind him. They took another turn, and he started to drop them in a greater concentration.

"Where should we put it?" Meril wondered, looking down at the galleon in her hand as they continued to walk.

"How about up there? Next to the suit of armor?"

Meril grinned and looked at him. "What about in its hand?"

"Ace!"

The two rushed forward, still scattering coins, until they reached the suit of armor. Lee took the galleon from Meril and stuck it in the suit of armor's hand. Meril pulled out her wand, looked to make sure that no one was watching, and murmured, "_Permenci."_

"Did it work?" Lee asked eagerly.

Meril nodded towards it. "Why don't you try?"

Lee reached for the hand and tried to remove the galleon from it; it wouldn't budge. He beamed at Meril. "Ace!" he exclaimed once again. "I've never seen the Permanent Sticking Charm used before."

"Well, now you have. Come on, we have to get to Charms."

* * *

Charms had always proved to be the perfect environment for a nice chat, and Meril and Lee took full advantage of that fact. Once again isolating themselves from the twins, they planned their next attack. They would take turns practicing _Tergeo, _a spell used to clean, and looking up useful charms in their text book. By the end of the double period, Meril and Lee had both successfully cleaned all of the dishes they had received, and had devised a plan.

Meril and Lee left when the loud bell chimed, just like everyone else. They caught up with Fred and George in the hallway, and Meril squeezed in between them as she was apt to do. It was odd that she didn't feel weird about not having talked to her boyfriend for most of the day. And, standing beside him, she didn't feel any relief about being with him again. In fact, she felt quite the opposite—anxious to get away from him and George again so that she and Lee could complete their prank. But, for the meantime, she made idle chatter with the two.

About a floor up from the Great Hall, Lee stopped short and said, "Meril, we're going the wrong way! We have Divination next!"

"Bollocks, you're right! Err—well…" She looked back and forth anxiously between Lee and the twins. Lee tapped his toes impatiently. "I have to go. I'll see you two later then?"

"Well, you should know better than we should. You're the one that has been divining futures," George joked.

Meril stared blankly at him for a moment, shook her head, and gave Fred a kiss on the cheek. "Later."

She rejoined Lee and the two doubled back, took three consecutive left hand turns, and found themselves right back where they started. The twins long gone, they hurried down the flight of stairs, made sure the coast was clear, and snuck into the Great Hall.

"You know the spell, right?" Meril whispered. Even in her quietest tone, her voice seemed to carry around the vast room. She hoped no one was near enough to hear.

"Yup. Do you?"

"Yes I do! Fire at will then."

The two separated, darting around the Great Hall and casting "_Exfodio_" at arbitrary plates as they went. After Meril had gone over the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables, she went back to test a few of the plates she knew she that had cast the charm upon. She had never used it before, and though she and Lee had spent the better part of a period studying it, they hadn't been able to actually practice it.

The first few attempts had been unsuccessful, and so she tried again until the center of the plate sprang towards her when poked, as it should have. Smiling satisfactorily to herself, she pushed the center back down until the spring was compressed and the plate locked into place.

"I can't wait until lunch!" Lee exclaimed eagerly, rubbing his hands together as he rejoined Meril at the door.

"I know. It's going to be quite a show," Meril agreed, still grinning. "And you remember where you put the plates at our table?"

Lee nodded. "As long as we don't sit too close to either end, we should be good."

The corridors were empty, and Meril and Lee were, as they had predicted, late for Divination. They took off at a run, not stopping for anyone or anything, not even Sir Cadogen, who challenged them to a duel, as usual. They ascended the stairs and casually slipped into the classroom, hoping beyond reason that their tardiness would pass unnoticed.

As batty as Professor Trelawney was, she wasn't completely oblivious all of the time. As soon as Meril and Lee snuck into the room, she swept down upon them, her wide eyes appearing even larger behind her thick glasses.

"Where have you been? No—don't answer that. I already know, of course."

"Well then why would you even ask?" Meril asked bluntly.

Trelawney blinked at her before replying, slightly flustered, "It is merely a formality. But, seeing as it is your first offense, and I don't foresee anything of this nature happening anytime soon—" Meril and Le exchanged significant looks, "—I will permit you to take your seats and join us. Today, we are continuing our lesson on dreams. There are two copies of _The_ _Dream Oracle _by Inigo Imago on my desk. If you two could please go pick them up…"

* * *

Divination was, as usual, a load of malarkey. Neither Meril nor Lee really concentrated on the assignment—to interpret each other's dreams—very seriously. As soon as the bell rang, they were out of the classroom, very nearly missing the assignment—to start a dream diary. There was a collective groan from the class.

Just one more assignment to add to the pile of things Meril _wouldn't _be starting that night. People had always said that fifth year was awful because of the O., and Meril supposed that she would agree. There was an inordinate amount of work, but she took it in stride—doing assignments as she got them, for the most part, and not caring about what she couldn't get done. There were more important things to life than homework, and this competition—this _day—_was one of those things.

Meril and Lee arrived at lunch a littler earlier than usual and snatched four seats at the center of the table to avoid the jinxed plates. Fred and George soon joined them as the rest of the Great Hall filled in. The food magically appeared and the students automatically began to fill their plates. Meril and Lee smirked at each other across the table.

It only took a minute for the first plate to get set off at the Hufflepuff table. From there it was a chain reaction. Students all over the Great Hall were receiving plates of the food to the face. Indignant screams echoed throughout the room. People were jumping out of their seats and flinging the food from their faces to the floor.

Fred and George both stared at their plates skeptically. George gave his a tentative poke with his fork, and when nothing happened, he exhaled audibly.

"Was this your doing?" Fred inquired, looking back and forth between Meril and Lee with something of a smile edging its way onto his face.

More students, attempting once more to fill their plates and eat, reached the same fate as before. Several particularly aggravated people got up and stormed out of the room; Meril noticed that Heather was one of them. It was unfortunate that she had been caught in the crossfire of the prank war, but she had not been targeted.

"Yeah, we did," Lee admitted; the grin seemed to be a permanent fixture on his face.

"Well, Freddie—it looks like they may be more competition than we anticipated," George said through a mouth full of food. Now that he was sure his plate was safe, he was eating very heartily. He sent a wink at Meril, assuring her that he never doubted the competition she and Lee presented.

Fred draped his arm around Meril's shoulder and kissed her cheek. "Yes, it looks that way."

The four finished eating in relative silence. Meril occupied herself with listening to the disgruntled mumblings of her classmates and surveying the scene, taking in who was hit. She noted with displeasure that Amy Smith had avoided the attack, though Jennifer Crisp had not been as lucky. At the Slytherin table, Caleb Stinson, Jayden Abrams, an Gabriel Wilm had all been hit. Jayden looked livid; Caleb appeared bemused; Gabriel seemed close to tears.

"I know what we're doing next," Lee announced, tearing Meril from her reverie. "Come on. We need to find a safe place to discuss it." He cast an untrusting look upon the twins, who immediately looked away.

Although Lee was once again calling her away from a meal before she had finished her food, Meril did not resist. She took the half-eaten sandwich from her plate and quickly followed Lee out of the room.

* * *

A letter—that had been his brilliant idea. A letter sent to Amy Smith from "Oliver Wood" confessing his mutual affection. Meril had agreed wholeheartedly with this scheme—found it riotously funny—until they'd already written it and sent it off to her. But then she got to thinking about what they'd done.

Although Meril constantly wondered about Amy's intelligence, she had gotten into Ravenclaw for a reason. The probability that she would deduce that the letter was _not _from Oliver was relatively high, and Amy would have only one suspect for the real perpetrator of the letter: Meril.

And Meril had been working so hard to stay out of trouble. It had been weeks since she had had a detention, and even longer since she and Amy had had any conflicts. With this letter, all of that could go away.

"Oy!"

Meril turned around and spotted Fred and George running towards her across the grounds. "Where have you been?" she called out.

"I could ask you the same thing," Fred commented with a wry smile. "You and Lee disappeared midway through lunch and never came back. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were cheating on me."

Meril grabbed Lee by the hand drawing him closer to her. "Who says that you know better?"

Fred laughed and turned to Lee. "Just make sure you get her back to me by dinner time, would you?"

"I'll see if I can spare her."

Meril smiled but did not respond. Her mind slipped back into her thoughts, and she was only vaguely aware of Lee and the twins talking and laughing around her. She followed methodically behind them. Left, right, left, right.

It was harder to ignore the bone-shaking cold induced by the dementors with thoughts stuck on a subject unpleasant as Amy Smith and impending trouble.

"Are you alright?"

George's voice, a soft whisper straight in her ear, pulled Meril back out of her trance. He was walking alongside her now, keeping time with her even pace. Left, right, left, right.

"I'm fine. I'm just…thinking."

"The dementors aren't getting to you, are they?"

"Oh, no. I'm really fine. I'm just…thinking."

George scrunched up his nose as if he had just smelt something particularly offensive. "That thinking can be dangerous stuff. You nearly stepped into a hole back there."

"Did I really?"

He nodded. "You ended up stepping over it, but it was a close one."

"You didn't think of warning me?"

"I would have pulled you up if you had fallen."

"I guarantee you, I can feel your warm sentiment."

George beamed—the familiar beam which lit up his eyes. The smile which, for the past few months, Meril had felt the urge to photograph every time she saw it directed towards her. It was such a rare occurrence lately. "There we go."

They joined the queue to get into the Herbology greenhouse. Just ahead of Lee and Fred was Kenneth Towler, a Hufflepuff in their year. He had a pair of blue plaid pajama bottoms sticking out of his bag.

Fred dropped something and bent down to pick it up, so Lee led Meril and George to their usual station beside Heather and her friends Rome Dickinson, Cora Rose, and…that girl whose name Meril could never remember. Audrey Butler? No, that didn't sound quite right. Ashley? Yes, Ashley Bitler!

Fred hurried over to join them, his hand deep inside his bag as he attempted to push something down. Meril gave him a curious look, but he ignored it and pulled his bag closed.

"I haven't talked to you all day," Meril said, turning towards Heather.

"Yes, well I'm sure you've been busy—it being April first and all." The blonde smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear, an action which sent a horrible smell towards Meril. She scrunched up her nose distastefully and noticeably gagged. Heather's face fell. "Can you smell that?"

"Yes!" Meril coughed. She plugged her nose, hoping that that would not only prevent her from smelling it again, but that it would also release the smell still clinging to the insides of her nostrils.

It didn't work.

"What _is _it?"

"Well, after I got a face full of food at lunch, I went up to the prefect's bathroom to wash off. And…well, you've never been in there, but the tub is really something of a pool, and there are all these different taps which scented soaps normally flow out of. Only today, when I opened up the taps, some sort foul slime filled the water—and I was already in it. So I emptied the tub and refilled it, now hoping to get the remnants of food _and _slime off of me, but I suppose it didn't get rid of the smell." She took a whiff of her hair and recoiled.

Meril's eyes immediately flickered towards Fred and George during the telling of the tale, and though they seemed to be preoccupied, there were smiles on their faces which suggested that they heard the entire thing—smiles that hinted success.

"Is it on your skin, too?" Meril asked, turning her attention back towards her best friend.

"Probably," Heather said miserably. "I don't know how anyone can stand to be near me. I smell like rotten vegetables and skunk."

"Well…it isn't _that _potent," Meril said consolingly.

Heather turned towards her quickly, a smile bright on her face. The abrupt movement had sent a foul wind towards Meril, and she once again felt like she could not breathe because of the stench. "Really?"

Meril placed her hand over her nose and mouth."Well…when you don't move."

"Oh…"

"Enough chit-chat everyone!" Professor Sprout exclaimed, clapping her dirty hands together in a call to attention. "This lesson, we will be working with seedlings of Screechsnap. Does anyone know what Screechsnap is?"

Silence.

Professor Sprout sighed. "Does anyone know anything at all about it?"

"It's semi-sentient, isn't it?" Meril piped up; the words were out of her mouth without her even realizing it. The entire class was looking at her, as they always did when she spoke up in any class other than Potions. "Meaning that it has some power of perception through its senses…"

"Very good! Five points to Gryffindor! Screechsnaps have many different uses—both magical and mundane. The flowers can be used to flavor soups, the stems have many uses in potions, and the roots, when mashed, form something of a healing paste—quite useful on burns. Your homework will be to research some of the _magical _properties of Screechsnap and to write a two-foot essay on it, due after Easter break. But, for now, we will just be bedding them on our trays. So, everyone come on up—get some dragon manure and a pot of Screechsnaps, and get started!"

The period went rather quickly. No one talked much—the screaming from the plant seedlings was too much to hear over, and their constant wriggling kept their hands preoccupied. Lee threw a spade full of dragon manure on top of a pile of seedlings to shut them up, but that only made them cry harder.

Seeing this, Professor Sprout raised her hand to catch everyone's attention and said, "I forgot to mention—they don't like it if there is too much dragon manure on their trays so please—" She cast a look towards Lee "—use it sparingly."

Meril worked carefully with the seedlings, though the work was so tedious she found herself frequently distracted. She looked over at Heather, who clearly could not believe her ill-luck that, in addition to the lunch fiasco and the ineffective bath, her hands would now wreak of dragon dung—and that was not a scent which was quick to dissipate.

Up at the castle, the bell chimed, signaling the end of the lesson. Everyone cleaned up their stations and their hands, and hurried towards the door. Before too many people could exit, Fred shoved his way to the front, his hand in his bag once more.

"Wait!" he exclaimed. "Did anybody lose their trousers?" He yanked the blue plaid pajama bottoms from his bag and held them in the air. "I found them at the beginning of the lesson, but I didn't want to interrupt Professor Sprout here. Any takers?"

Kenneth Towler raced towards him, hands outstretched and looking very disheveled. His square glasses were sliding off the edge of his sweaty nose, and he had manure smeared above his eyebrow. "Those are mine! Those are mine."

Fred passed them to him, but did not let go of his end. "I'm just curious…why do you have pajama bottoms with you?"

Kenneth's pale face flushed with color. "I realized during lunch that I was still wearing them under my uniform."

"Ah, a common mistake," Fred said sagely, hiding back a laugh. "Well, here you are. Don't worry—I took good care of them."

"Thank you very much, Fred! Now can I—er—get through? I don't want to be late to Transfiguration…"

"No, no of course not…Off you get, Kenny!"

Kenneth winced visibly at the nickname, stuffed his pajama bottoms into his bag, and hurried out, followed by the majority of the class. Fred sauntered back over to his work station, laughing silently to himself.

"How did you get those?" Meril asked suspiciously. "I saw them right before we came in, and they seemed pretty secure in his bag."

Fred winked and tweaked her on the nose. "Never you mind your pretty little head Mer-Mer."

"You did something to them—didn't you?"

"Me? No, no…never."

Fred could have kept the laugh out of his tone, if he had wanted to. He could have made himself convincing. But Fred took too much pride in his work, and he wanted to share it with anyone who would listen.

"You can tell me. There's nothing I can do now to stop it."

"I suppose you're right." He paused outside the greenhouse and readjusted the bag on his shoulder. "But, you'll find out at dinner, just like Lee. Speaking of which…" He looked around wildly for a moment before spotting the dreadlocked boy with his twin, already halfway to Care of Magical Creatures.

* * *

**a/n **I am so sorry about how long it took me to get this out. I don't know who exactly I am apologizing to other than myself, since I have no readers (and if I do have readers, you should make yourselves known! I love you guys!). This started out being an incredibly difficult chapter for me to write. For months, I would try to work on it, and just get stuck, because I knew what I wanted to do-the competition-but I couldn't think of any pranks to fill it out. And then one day, I sat down and I started writing. I wrote day after day, little by little, and suddenly I had 12 pages. And I hadn't even gotten to the main point. I just finished the chapter a couple minutes ago. It was _fifty pages_. That has to be some sort of record. So I split it in half, and I will be posting the other half tomorrow. Or really, later today.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Please give me some feedback!


	38. The Competition

**Chapter Thirty-Seven—**  
The Competition

* * *

Meril had known it would backfire—that stupid letter. If only she had realized it before it had been sent—before it had even been written.

After Care of Magical Creatures—a rather boring lesson, since Hagrid was in grieving over the fate of Buckbeak, and did not have the energy to give his normal type of lesson—the fifth years and the seventh years had a break, which was supposed to be spent studying for their upcoming exams. However, Meril decided to head off to her room to prepare a Babbling Beverage, which she would later bring down to the kitchens (along with a special treat for Fred and George's birthday) for the house elves to serve with dinner. However, on her trek across the grounds, she was stopped by a seething Amy Smith. She was trembling with rage, her fists clenched so tightly her knuckles were white.

Without saying anything, Amy lunged forward and gave Meril a shove. The Gryffindor stumbled backwards, just barely keeping herself from falling over.

"You thought I wouldn't know?" Amy screamed, giving Meril's shoulders another shove. "You thought I wouldn't be able to tell the difference?" She revealed a crumpled piece of parchment in one of her hands.

Meril stared silently at it, unsure of how to respond. She wasn't going to rat out Lee, and she wasn't going to lie and say that she had no idea Amy wouldn't be able to tell. So instead she opted for silence and just stared at the parchment.

"If you're so interested in it, why don't you have another read!" Amy chucked the parchment with surprisingly good aim, hitting Meril square between the eyes. The latter fumbled for a moment before finally catching it. "Go on—I'll wait."

And so Meril carefully unfolded the letter which Lee had taken such pleasure in writing.

_Dearest Amy,_

_ I have known for a while now your feelings for me, and I have been trying to not let them get to me. I didn't want to accept my own feelings for you. We're in our seventh year, and come the summer, I am going to be very busy with Quidditch._  
_ But I don't think that I can fight it anymore._  
_ Amy, your affection for me is mutual—I feel the same for I think that it is worth a shot. Who knows, maybe we could work out? Let me know what you think. I'll be waiting eagerly for your response._

_ Love, Oliver_

"If you received a letter like that, would _you _be convinced?"

"No, probably not," Meril admitted. Her throat felt very dry, and it felt weird to be talking. "Oliver would never chance a distraction to his Quidditch…"

Amy narrowed her eyes and, after a moment, said, "You're right." It was obviously a struggle for her to agree with anything Meril said. "But other than that…and beyond the fact that I recognize that this is not his handwriting…do you think I'm not aware of the fact that Oliver doesn't feel the same way? We have barely talked in two years. And before then, even…But there is just something about him that makes me know he is right for me. It doesn't matter that I know it isn't mutual. I can't shake these feelings. And to have my feelings exploited for I don't know how many of your dumb friends to see? It's mortifying—it's infuriating. Those are private thoughts and feelings and fears. How _dare _you play with my feelings like that? What gives you the right?" Tears were gleaming in her brown eyes now, and her trembles had turned into violent shakes.

Once again, Meril opted for silence.

"ANSWER ME!" Amy shrieked.

Meril looked over her shoulders, amazed that they had not attracted a crowd. Amy was creating quite the scene. But no one was interested enough to stop and observe. Meril's and Amy's enmity was old news.

"Erm…I—"

"That is why I have _always _**loathed** you, Lizlow. Ever since I first saw you, and you were nothing but a first year, you strutted around as if you owned the place. You and your stupid little friends tossed around Dungbombs and created havoc, and you expected everyone else to just fall to your feet, didn't you?"

"Well, no, not really…"

"Shut _up!"_ Amy growled. "I was so happy when you were gone, and then you had to come back! You've messed everything up!"

"How have I—"

"**STOP TALKING**! You should have been expelled for all of the bullshit you've pulled at this school. You were always sneaking into the forest and getting into fights and misbehaving, and it took them two years to do anything real about it! And then I sneak into the woods _once _with a bottle of firewhiskey and they give me a month's worth of detention and take away any chances I had of being Head Girl! And then stupid Penelope Clearwater—"

"Fascinated as I am to hear all of this—truly—this doesn't really seem to pertain to me anymore, and I have places to be…"

Virtually no time passed between Amy raising her fist and it making contact with Meril's face. There was nothing Meril could have done to stop it—it had caught her completely off-guard. Her hand shot instinctively towards her face, covering her left eye where she had been hit, and she staggered backwards.

"I was hoping it wasn't going to come to this—" Meril grunted. Her eyes was throbbing and watering so much she could barely see out of it. She whipped her wand out of her robe pocket, pointed it at Amy, and shouted, "_Impedimenta!_"

She was still trying to evade a fight, and she figured the best way to do that would be to just slow Amy down and walk around her. As she was taking her loop, however, Amy countered her spell with "_Petrificus Totalus!" _

Meril's arms sprung to her side, and her legs binded themselves together. Unable to move, she collapsed onto her back. Amy walked up to her with a sneer, then knelt down beside her.

"Consider this a preview of what will happen if I ever need to give you your third warning. You remember my warnings, don't you?"

Meril could not nod; she could not even part her lips to respond. She just hoped that her eyes were properly exhibiting the loathing which she was feeling inside.

"Good," Amy hissed. She straightened herself, wiped down the front of her robes, and walked off—but not without giving Meril a proper kick to the face. She could taste the blood on her lips.

It felt like a lifetime before someone finally passed by. Meril lay bound, unable to do anything but breathe and think. Oh, how she hated Amy Smith. She had tried to be the better person. She had tried to walk away. She had even admitted (albeit, to herself) that Amy had been right about the whole letter—that it was more hurtful than funny. The next time Meril saw Amy, there would be hell to pay. She didn't even care if there were witnesses.

Okay, maybe she cared a little bit. She didn't really want to be sent away again.

"Need a little help there?" someone asked from somewhere behind Meril's head. It was a male; he laughed heartily after asking, as if he had made some sort of joke. "That's right—you can't answer me! Well, how about I release you, and if you really like laying there, you can just lay right back down. Okay?" He continued to laugh; obviously this guy thought he was some sort of comedian. "_Relashio."_

Meril's joints felt sore. As she stood up and bent her arms, she could have sworn that they were all creaking. She stretched out her back and wiped the grass off of her robes.

The boy cleared his throat quite obviously, and Meril was vaguely aware of his arms crossed over his chest as he stood and watched her. She assumed he was waiting for some recognition for his good deed.

"Right. Well—bye," Meril said without once looking at the boy who had saved her.

"Are you serious?" he coughed. "Meril, I thought we were past this."

At the sound of her name, she turned and, after looking very carefully (her left eye had all but swollen shut) found Caleb Stinson standing there in disbelief.

"Oh, it's you. Look, thanks a bundle for releasing me, but I need to take care of something."

He raised his eyebrows. "Thanks a bundle? That's all I get? I should have just left you there."

"Caleb—really. I sincerely thank you for your valiant efforts. However, I am in a rush, and I don't have time to stand around and chat. If you'd like, we could sit down and have a spot of tea so I could tell you how truly grateful I am. I will spill my heart and soul out to you over a cuppa and a biscuit, if that is what you want. But for right now, _leave me be._"

Caleb grinned widely and gave his short sandy bangs a tousle. "I've missed your spunk, Meril Lizlow. You could have used a bit more of that with Amy Smith, and I'm sure you wouldn't have found yourself staring at the sky for so long."

"You—you _saw_ that? You were watching, and you let me just lay there for Merlin knows how long?" Meril sputtered, her face flushing in a new bout of anger.

Caleb shrugged. "It was fun to see you struggle."

"You are unbelievable."

"So I've been told." He winked and smirked. "Now hurry along. I'll be looking forward to that tea."

* * *

Meril put together the Babbling Beverage at lightning speed and left it to simmer in her dormitory. She then ran down to the kitchens, tickled the pear a little to urgently, sending it into a complete fit, and placed an order with the House elves, who were as accommodating as ever. Knowing full well that they would not have all of the needed ingredients, she handed them a pouch of brown and green Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and a vile of a murky mauve liquid.

After hastily saying 'thank you' and 'good-bye,' Meril dashed off to Transfiguration, arriving precisely on time and out of breath.

"Take your seats, please. Today we will be transfiguring quills into birds. You all have quills on your desks—begin. Except for the Misters Weasley and Miss Lizlow, if you will."

Lee looked between the three of them, confused, as they walked up to McGonagall's desk at the front of the room. Professor McGonagall was sorting through a pile of parchment on her desk. "Your little prank this morning was not amusing," she said, getting straight to the point.

"Professor—" George objected; his eyes flickered towards Meril, and before he could continue, he let out a great gasp. "Meril, what the bloody hell happened to you?"

"Language, Mr. Weasley," McGonagall snapped, looking sharply at him. Her eyes turned towards Meril, and she also let out a gasp. "Miss Lizlow, you look like hell. Have you been to the Hospital Wing?"

"Oh, you can say it, but when _I _say it—" With a look from McGonagall, George clamped his mouth shut.

"I'm fine," Meril grumbled. She paused. "I'm sure it doesn't look that bad."

"You look like you had your face stomped on," Fred said blankly. He had his eyes furrowed in concern.

"It's _fine."_

"And I am assuming that this is your prognosis of the situation, or did Madam Pomfrey say, 'It's fine' and send you away?" McGonagall said tersely.

Meril stubbornly didn't reply; McGonagall sighed.

"If you refuse to get help, there is nothing I can do. You are old enough to make those decisions on your own. Now, as to what I called you up for. Your prank this morning was most despicable. Malted feathers and Every Flavor beans all over the place, not to mention the droppings. Now, ordinarily, I would have you three clean up the mess you created, but the House Elves took care of it before I could find you. So instead—"

"May I interrupt?" said George tentatively, raising his hand. McGonagall's eyebrows raised further still, nearly disappearing into her hairline.

"Yes, Mr. Weasley?"

"I am not really sure a punishment is in order. You of all people should appreciate the hard work we put into that. See, we transfigured the rubber chickens into _real _chickens, and only after they were touched would they turn back into rubber."

"Brilliant, isn't it?" Fred said, unable to contain his grin.

"You transfigured them?" the professor said incredulously, looking none too discreetly at Meril.

"Meril had nothing to do with it. She actually helped take care of the rooster problem. Or, well, her cat did…I am not sure really how much she did."

She peered over her square spectacles at Fred. "And this is true? You aren't just trying to keep your girlfriend out of trouble?"

"My girlfriend? I—" Fred spluttered.

"Don't be so shocked, Mr. Weasley. I _do_ notice things." She looked briefly at George before clearing her throat and straightening the essays on her desk. "Is it true?"

"Completely! Meril can take care of herself. I just don't want her getting any credit that she doesn't deserve."

Although she was still looking at her desk, Meril was sure that she had seen McGonagall roll her eyes.

"Miss Lizlow, you may return to your seat. If you would like to visit the Hospital Wing, you are more than welcome to. Misters Weasley…" Professor McGonagall looked up at them, hesitating briefly. "We'll finish talking after class. Well what are you waiting for? Get to work!"

"Are you sure you don't want to have that looked at?" Fred asked with a frown as he sat down beside Meril at their usual table.

Meril looked back at him with her one good eye and gave him a smile which was really more of a grimace. It hurt to move her swollen, bloodied lips, and the action of smiling hurt my nose, which was definitely bruised. "I'm fine."

"If you're sure…" Fred didn't complete his though, and instead leaned forward and kissed Meril's swollen eye gently. He didn't seem too aware of the way she winced at his touch.

"Will you at least tell us what happened?" George inquired. He prodded the quill in front of him boredly.

"Not right now. I need to talk to Lee." She collected her things and moved them to the desk Lee and George we sharing. After staring expectantly at George for a moment, he grudgingly grabbed his things and moved to the empty seat beside Fred.

* * *

In the interim before dinner, Lee accompanied Meril back down to the kitchens, where she deposited her Babbling Beverage—a clear, bubbling substance resembling seltzer—into pitchers and gave it to the House Elves to disperse amongst the tables. The potion smelt faintly of meat, but nobody would think anything of that at dinner.

From the kitchens, they trekked back up to the Charms corridor to check in on their galleon prank. A pair of students was huddled over the hand, grunting as they struggled to get the galleon from the hand. By the sounds of it, they had been at it for several minutes.

"Blimey! This is really stuck in here!" one exclaimed, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

"I give up!" proclaimed the other. His eyebrows were tightly drawn and he looked extraordinarily frustrated.

"Yeah, let's go. It's just one galleon anyway. How would we have even split that?"

The second one shrugged. "One of us could have taken the galleon and given the other half of the exchange in sickles. But alas, what does it matter anyway? We aren't getting the galleon."

"It's a shame. I wonder what's keeping it there?"

The two wandered off, and Meril and Lee were about to head off in the opposite direction when the creaking of metal caught their attention. They halted and looked for the source of the noise.

It wasn't difficult to find.

The suit of armor had stepped away from the wall. Its joints, so long out of use, were stiff and creaked every time they were used. The suit turned what would be its neck back and forth, surveying its surroundings from its new vantage point. It spotted the two boys rounding a corner and, without a moment's pause, hurried off after them.

Meril and Lee shared a bemused expression. Then, wordlessly, they stood and casually started to follow after the armor and the boys. It took the boys a couple of minutes to realize that they were being stalked, and that was only after they had seen that some girl walking down a set of stairs was being stalked by three.

"This must be the work of the twins," Meril commented with a laugh and awe in her voice.

"We _have _to get something else in before dinner. We only have five! The galleon, the plates, the letter, the Babbling Beverage, and the cupcakes…Who knows how many more Fred and George have that we don't know about!"

"I agree…but we really only have four. The letter was a bust." Meril pointed at her face. The swelling had lessened in her eye, but the area around it was turning purple. The bridge of her nose was bruised, but it wasn't broken—though it did hurt if she moved her mouth too dramatically. Her upper lip was also still swollen and had a very prominent gash in it.

"Did Amy do that to you?" Lee asked, realization dawning on his face. Meril gave a small nod but didn't look at him. "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell _McGonagall _when she was asking about it?" he cried in outrage.

Meril shrugged.

"I just saw on my way to Transfiguration, and she didn't look like she'd been touched."

"I'm trying to stay out of trouble," Meril stated simply.

"_You're _trying to stay out of trouble?"

"Why are you so surprised? Do you think I want to be sent away again? I think we can both recognize that I would be expelled if I got into serious trouble again. They wouldn't go easy on me. And I like it here. And I like being able to perform magic. So yes, I am trying to stay out of serious trouble. Amy approached me about the letter, and I was very civil with her. I didn't provoke her at all. And she attacked. I was going to just walk away, so I used Impedimenta on her. But she put the Body-Bind on me and then kicked my face."

"You have to tell someone."

"_No_, I don't."

"She should get in trouble for this!"

"I agree, but I just don't want to deal with the shit she'd put me through for ratting her out. Now could we please think up another prank to pull? Because you're right—we don't have enough."

"Alright," Lee sighed. He leaned back against the wall, and Meril slid down to the floor beside him. "It needs to be fantastic."

"But it also needs to be easy. We don't have much time until dinner."

"And no Dungbombs?"

"Definitely not! That's way too obvious. It would just scream that I had something to do with it."

"So we need something original. Something no one would expect either of us doing."

"Well, that rules out Angelina," Meril said with a sarcastic smile.

Lee smiled coyly. "Hardy-har-har. Aren't you clever? Now if you could just use that wit for something a bit more productive."

"Why don't we set Fred and George up? Pull a prank that everyone will assume was them?"

Lee considered it for a moment before nodding approvingly. "That isn't a bad idea. If anyone gets in trouble, it will be them. Unless they talk their way out of it."

"Perfect! Now what is something so uniquely and positively _them_ that no one will question it?"

"They play Exploding Snap a lot!"

"Yes, but we can't turn that into a prank. Can we?"

"No, I suppose not…"

"Then what?"

The pair sat in a thoughtful silence for a few moments. Personally, Meril was embarrassed by how difficult it was to think of a defining prank for Fred and George. They were two of her best friends, and yet she was stumped.

"Fireworks!" Lee suddenly exclaimed.

"Fireworks?"

"Yes! Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start No-Heat Fireworks! Fred and George love them! They always have a supply to get them through the year."

"That's right, they do! Of course! But can we take theirs? I don't know if I'd feel right about that."

"Of course we can! It's perfect. Taking their fireworks will be part of the prank—possibly even the best part. Come on—quick! Let's go!" Lee lifted Meril to her feet, already sprinting towards Gryffindor Tower.

Thankfully, neither of the twins was anywhere in sight as Lee and Meril burst into their dormitory. Lee immediately began rummaging through Fred's open trunk, leaving Meril to investigate George's. She felt her face burning as she picked through his clothes and various possessions. She felt guilty—as if any moment she was going to stumble upon something private which she shouldn't see.

"I got some!" Lee announced. He was cradling a bundle of fireworks wrapped in an old t-shirt. "Any luck?"

Meril took another glance. She found a similar bundle to the one that Lee was holding, but was afraid to touch it. "Maybe. Are these fireworks?" She pointed at the bundle.

"You'd recognize them."

"I don't want to look."

Lee rolled his eyes and peeled back the t-shirt. Fireworks. Meril wasn't sure what she had thought it might be, but she was mildly disappointed that that was all it was. Fireworks. Maybe if she searched deeper she would find something else. Her hand hovered over the trunk, but she thrust it into her robe pocket before she could touch anything else and mentally scolded herself. She didn't _want _to look any further.

"Where should we set these off?" Lee asked. He carefully readjusted his robes over the bundle so that no one could see, and Meril did the same.

"How about the second floor? There's a girl's lavatory there that's out of order. We can start there. Maybe hit the boy's lavatory, too. And, if you'd like, we could set them off throughout the rest of the floor, but I think that will draw too much attention."

"No, the lavatories will work just fine. The fireworks will travel on their own anyway. Let's go!"

The two rushed down to the second floor and quickly found the abandoned lavatory. Lee stepped inside the boy's bathroom to make sure the coast was clear and came back out several minutes later with a toilet seat. Meril looked at him quizzically.

"Fred and George have a certain affinity for toilet seats," Lee explained. "George has even offered to send a Hogwarts toilet seat home to Ginny before. I just thought that this would be another good sign."

"Oh, alright then. Was the coast clear?"

"We're all set. Here—" Lee handed Meril a vial full of water. "—To start your fireworks. I suggest you don't let them all off inside the lavatory. Just a few." To demonstrate, Lee placed two fireworks just inside the doorway to the boy's room. He then poured a little water over both of them and closed the door.

Meril followed this procedure carefully and then set off the rest of her fireworks in the same fashion. Once both she and Lee had finished, they raced off, putting some distance between them and the scene of the crime before the crowd hit.

"Perfect timing. There's only half an hour before dinner starts," Lee said, checking his watch. "Do you want to head down?"

"No. I think I'm going to visit the Hospital Wing," Meril replied hesitantly. She gently touched her eyes and winced. "Will you come with me?" She grabbed Lee's hand tightly. He didn't have the option to say no.

"Sure! That will give us an alibi anyway. You know…just in case."

Meril and Lee pushed against the crowds that were trying to figure out where the explosions were coming from and what they were and worked their way up to the Hospital Wing. As usual, Meril found herself tensing in front of it and turning to walk away, but Lee had a firm grip on her elbow and all but carried her inside.

"Excuse me? Madam Pomfrey?" Lee said after a cough failed to capture the nurse's attention. She was busy bustling around, straightening up the empty beds and organizing the various remedies.

"Yes, dear? Merlin's beard!" She nearly dropped the bottle of Pepper Up Potion she was holding. "Miss Lizlow, come, sit down! That looks dreadful. What on earth happened?"

"Oh…I tripped," Meril said lamely, taking a seat on the nearest bed. Lee laughed, but quickly turned it into a cough when Meril's glaring eyes reached him.

"Tripped?" the nurse said disbelievingly. "Very well then. Just sit tight, I'll get you some Murtlap Essence."

She came back with a solution of strained and pickled tentacles. "Lay back," she demanded. Meril hesitantly obeyed, knowing full well that as soon as she laid down, those weird, slimy-looking tentacles were going to be placed on her face. She tried not to shudder too much when they were placed over her nose, eye, and mouth respectively. They weren't as slimy as she had anticipated, and they were actually very soothing. But the taste on her lip was atrocious.

When the dinner bell rang twenty minutes later, Meril's face was feeling much better, and the swelling had even died down. Madame Pomfrey gently cleaned off the remainder of the solution from her face and sent Meril and Lee away, saying, "Come back if it still bothers you and I will give you more. Though I do think that should do the trick!"

"Well, you still have a black eye," Lee commented, swiftly surveying her face, "but other than that, you look much better!"

"I feel a lot better. It doesn't hurt to smile now."

"Yes, smiling is a very painful exercise for you, I know…"

"Look who's being clever now."

The two entered the Great Hall only a couple of minutes late, but it was late enough to see that Meril's Babbling Beverage was working. They could both hear several Slytherins loudly babbling incoherent nonsense which carried across the room. The best part was that no one could figure out what was going on, and so more people continued to drink the potion.

"Can you hear that lovely chorus?" George said pleasantly as they approached. Meril took the seat beside Fred and across from George as Lee did the opposite. "Better than a million verses of 'Happy Birthday!'"

"Well, there goes my present to you!" Meril scowled.

"Mer, you singing could not be considered a gift to anyone," said Fred through a mouth full of food. He swallowed hard and gave Meril a peck on the cheek. "Sorry mate, but it's the truth."

"It is not! I'm sure I can find someone who loves to hear me sing. Scott!"

The sandy haired boy two seats over from Fred fell silent, his face falling at the sound of her voice. "Yes, Monkey?"

"There he goes with that 'Monkey' nonsense again," Meril muttered. "Scott, how would you like it if I sang 'Happy Birthday' to you?"

"Oh, it isn't my birthday!" he replied rather too quickly.

"Yes, I know that," said Meril impatiently. "I'm just wondering how you would like it if I sang it to you. Though it wouldn't have to be that song. It could be any song you like."

"I would never have you sing a song I like—you'd murder it," he responded, though he immediately seemed to regret it. His eyes went unusually wide and his face blanched. His mouth opened, but nothing but a frog-like croak came out. Giving up on words, he turned back to his plate.

"Well!" Meril said indignantly. "I suppose it's a good thing I actually got you two real presents then. They're up in the dormitory, though, so I can't give them to you now. But you wait. They are much better than me serenading you."

"Oh, sweetie—" Fred wrapped his arm around her shoulders and rested his head against hers. "Almost everything is."

Meril gave a few appreciative chuckles, but it was nothing compared to the other three. Lee and George roared with laughter and even had tears streaming down their cheeks. Still wrapped in Fred's arm, Meril could feel him shaking with silent laughter himself. Her smile faded long before the laughter. She removed Fred's arm from her shoulders and continued to eat in brooding silence.

"I'm sorry Mer. That was just—never mind," Fred chuckled. "How was your day? I missed you." He leaned over and gave her another, more lingering kiss on the cheek. Meril smiled. Across from her, George's laugh fell into his plate and he resumed eating.

It was still disturbing to Meril how little she had actually missed Fred throughout the course of the day. She had been so busy and had had so much fun with Lee that she hadn't even had time to miss her boyfriend. She had barely even though of him outside the parameters of the competition. But she had thought of George, and the mysteries which lay hidden in his trunk. Even then she was thinking about George, wondering why he was so solemn.

"Oh, it was fine," Meril replied vaguely.

"Especially that part where you got the black eye, hm?"

"Yes, that was my favorite."

"I see the swelling has gone down."

"Lee escorted me to the Hospital Wing just before dinner."

"Is _that _what you were doing? George and I could have sworn you were up to something else."

"No, we were just at the Hospital Wing," Meril said, carefully phrasing it so that it would not be a lie. "How was your day? What did McGonagall do about the roosters?"

"Oh, we got detentions," Fred said off-handedly. "She almost gave us another just before dinner. She was under the impression that we had set off some fireworks on the second floor."

"And removed a toilet seat," George added.

"Fireworks and a toilet seat? It does sound like you guys…how did you wiggle your way out of that one?" Lee wondered.

"Well you see….Fred and I are very charming."

"But that failed us. McGonagall knew we were telling the truth when she threatened writing home to Mum and we remained calm," Fred elucidated.

"It's funny though, because we _had_ planned on letting off some fireworks as a finale for the night. But before we could get up to our dorm to get them, an entire set had gone off. And so we decided against that idea—wouldn't want to look like copy-cats."

"No, certainly not. People would think that you'd lost your touch."

Fred and George both snorted, "As if that could ever happen."

The rest of dinner progressed somewhat silently. As they weren't tallying up pranks until after dessert, there was very little to be said. The competition was all that had been on any of their minds that day. Meril felt slightly nervous about what to expect. When it came to practical jokes, Fred and George usually worked until the last possible moment. However, George had claimed that the fireworks would have been their finale, so that suggested that they didn't have anything planned for dinner or dessert.

Unless he was just saying that to throw Meril and Lee off.

Well, that wasn't going to work. Meril remained highly attentive through dinner, avoiding anything that looked remotely suspicious. Lee, on the other hand, threw caution to the wind and ate whatever his stomach fancied. Fred and George were also completely relaxed, seemingly without a suspicion in the world.

Hopefully that wouldn't change once it was time for dessert.

The table was laden with its usual treats—Treacle Tart, Apple Pie, Chocolate Custard Trifle with Toffee Crunch, Rice Pudding, pastries, cakes, and tarts. However, at the Gryffindor table, there was an additional dessert—cupcakes. There were two different varieties—green icing with blue lettering that read "Happy Birthday George" and blue icing with green lettering that read "Happy Birthday Fred." Both were bordered with alternating green and amber Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

Fred and George both looked at the plates of cupcakes with surprise. Then, simultaneously, their gaze turned towards Meril.

Meril shrugged. "I didn't do it," she lied convincingly. "Maybe it was Ginny? Or maybe you guys have a secret admirer!"

"It's doubtful Ginny would do this. Though we _are_ her favorite brothers…" Fred thought aloud. Then without another moment's hesitation he reached forward and added one of the blue frosted cupcakes to his plate. Seeing his twin act so decisively, George also grabbed one of the cupcakes addressed to himself.

Meril added one of each of the cupcakes to her plate so that she would not look suspicious, but started in on the Chocolate Custard Trifle with Toffee Crunch first.

Fred and George both barreled through their dessert with such vivacity and thoroughness that Meril was afraid they wouldn't have room for their cupcakes. However, they were troopers, and though both complained of full stomachs, they pulled the wax paper from their cupcakes and simultaneously bit into them.

Their reaction wasn't immediate, but it was wholeheartedly satisfying.

First, their faces fell. With some concerted effort, they swallowed, then looked at their cupcakes in bemusement. Then, uncertainly, they cook another bite. This time, they gagged before they could swallow, finally recognizing the horrible flavor their taste buds had suffered—bogey and earwax from the beans. But there was still something off about them. Both removed the beans from the top and took a third bite. As the cupcake went down their throats, so a shudder went down their spines.

"What _is _this?" George hollered, throwing his cupcake to his otherwise empty plate. He grabbed the napkin from Lee's hand and began scrubbing at his tongue. Fred was still gagging, unable to remove the taste from the back of his throat.

"Who in Merlin's name would do something like this? And on our birth—" Fred stopped midthought. His eyes shot back towards Meril and they narrowed. "You!" he exclaimed accusingly. "This was _your _doing!" He shook the remainder of his cupcake—which was a pastel mauve in color—in her face.

Meril's face remained impassive as she waited for him to notice what she could already see. Both his and George's red hair was growing rapidly. Very soon it would reach their eyes and curl around their ears and down their necks. All around the Gryffindor table, other cupcake eaters were suffering the same symptoms.

"May I offer you a hair tie? Maybe a ribbon? Or a headband?" Meril proposed.

"Huh?"

It was then that the hairhad another growth spurt and shot Fred's eyes. Meril glanced at George and saw that it already reached his nose.

"Take care of George," Meril ordered Lee, handing him both a ribbon and a headband from her bag. "Fred, turn your back to me."

Disgruntled murmurs escaped the red-heads mouth, but he obeyed. Meril combed back his hair—now finished growing, since he didn't eat the entire cupcake—with her fingers and carefully set to work putting it into a simple braid. Once finished, she tied a blue ribbon around the end and kissed it. "Magnificent! Turn towards me!" His face set in a scowl, Fred turned to face his beaming girlfriend. Small tufts of hair remained loose by his ears, and his short braid flopped around in the back. "You are so cute!" Meril proclaimed.

George looked equally as thrilled with his new hairstyle. A simple black head band pushed his newly elongated bangs from his face, and a green ribbon tied the rest into a small ponytail at the top of his head, making him look like a turnip.

"I guess it's time to tally everything up, eh?" Lee cried, excitedly rubbing his palms together. "Who wants to go first?"

"Why don't you two?" Fred suggested, a false sweetness honeying his tone. "Be sure to mention any pranks which went awry as well."

"Alright. Well, we left a trail of coins leading up to a galleon which Meril attached to a suit of armor with a permanent sticking charm."

"That's one," Fred said as George rather pointedly raised his index finger into the air.

"Then there were the spring plates at lunch which threw the food," Meril said.

"Looks like they weren't all fixed before dinner, either," George commented as a second finger sprang up to join the first. He was right. There were once again several people walking around with their dinner on their faces.

"We wrote a letter to Amy from 'Oliver,'" Lee added; George's ring finger shot up.

"But that one backfired," corrected Meril, gesturing towards her eye; the finger sank back down. "But we also had the fireworks." The finger shot up again.

"I knew it was you two!" Fred shouted as he jumped to his feet. His braid swung back and forth like a pendulum behind his head.

"You were right," Lee said with a satisfied smirk. He sent Meril a warning look, telling her not to let them know just yet where the fireworks had come from. "There was also the Babbling Beverage over at the Slytherin table." George's pinkie joined the finger count.

"And, last but not least—the cupcakes." Meril beamed and gave Fred's braid a playful tug.

"What exactly did you put in them?" George inquired, waggling his thumb—the final tally—at Meril.

"Well, there were the beans, of course. But I'm sure you didn't mean that. You're wondering about the hair. Well, there's Manegro potion in there—that's what gave them that mauve color and the slight taste of berry soap. People who ate their entire cupcakes grew out more hair than you two did, and I'm sure that if the potion hadn't been baked with the cupcake batter, there would be an even more noted difference."

"Well that was quite sneaky of you, wasn't it?" Fred commented with just the slightest hint of praise in his voice.

"And I suppose we'll all have to mosey on up to the Hospital Wing and pay a visit to Madam Pomfrey to get rid of these unwanted tresses, won't we?" George nodded towards a cluster of the cupcakes' other victims, causing his turnip-tail to wobble.

"I'd say she is the most likely candidate to take care of that for you, yes. Now, shall we hear about your triumphs and tribulations of the day?" Meril proposed.

"Now there's an idea!" George grinned. "Do you want to start, or shall I?"

"I will. Now, as you know, there was the whole rooster scheme this morning in the Common Room—"

"—That was followed by the…er…shall we say _re-working _of the prefect's bathroom."

"Meaning we replaced the soap and bubbles with less appealing scents and objects," Fred expanded. "Now if I could direct your attention towards the Hufflepuff table, you will note that Kenneth Towler has broken out into boils. This is my doing. I put Bulbadox Powder in his pajama bottoms during Herbology. Poor bloke must have gotten it on his hands…and touched his face. Yuck." Fred grimanced, but the grin could not be thrown from his face.

"Oh you forgot that we charmed the suits of armor to stalk the first person who passed them. The only thing way to get rid of them is to come here, to the Great Hall."

"We had to make at least one safe place.

"I heard that Snape wasn't too happy when a couple joined him in the dungeon with his first years."

"He took points away from the Ravenclaw who had one, but not from the Slytherin."

"Git. I also heard people talking about the suits forcing their ways into Common Rooms."

"Ah, yes. They were far too quick to let the door be closed on them."

"Though I heard one Ravenclaw…Netta Stinson, was it? Yes, Netta managed to close the door on one. Though of course he was still there waiting for her when she came back out."

"Poor girl…Now where were we? I hope one of you was keeping track of all of this?" Fred looked back and forth between Meril and Lee accusingly.

"I believe that was four," Lee said without hesitation.

"Good. Then, after that, we set off a few Dungbombs in Filch's office. Ordinarily, he'd probably go after you" he looked at Meril "or one of us first, but it was during lessons…when he found it…so he blamed it on Peeves."

"And then I snuck off to the broom shed and jinxed one of the Slytherin's broomsticks. Of course they are all identical, so I had no idea whose it was. Not that it really matters—they are all slimy gits. But it ended up being Flint's." A devilish grin transformed his features as he looked over at the eighth-year student. The troll-like boy had taken the brunt of their tricks that evening. Not only was he brooding, but his face was still covered in bits of food, and nothing but nonsensical babble was escaping his mouth, though Meril wasn't sure whether or not that was from her potion. "I made it fly opposite what he wanted. I wish I could have made it go to the left if he wanted to go front, front if he wanted to go back, back if he wanted to go right, and right if he wanted to go left, but I don't know how. Plus that would probably make his pea-sized brain to explode. I doubt he ever figured out how to maneuver to broom as it was."

"I almost feel bad for him…" Meril said. She watched as Marcus Flint tried and failed to form coherent sentences. His face was contorted in both rage and confusion.

"I don't," Fred, George, and Lee all said at once, and then chuckled.

"But that's all we got to do. As we said before, we _were_ going to give a fireworks finale, but you two beat us to it," Fred sighed.

"About that…"Lee began, then trailed off. His eyes flickered towards Meril, urging her to finish the message. She didn't find that entirely fair, since she was the one who had opposed stealing from them.

"Yes?" George urged after a couple moments of Meril and Lee battling back and forth with their eyes.

At last, Meril gave in. She heaved a sigh and said, "We would like to thank you for your contributions to our fantastic fireworks show. Without you, none of it would have been possible."

"You stole our fireworks?" Fred spluttered, spraying pumpkin juice into Lee's face.

"Are-are you bloody serious?" George stuttered.

"On our _birthday_?"

"Oh, you better be planning on restocking us."

"Or at least paying us back."

"Don't worry—we will," Meril said hurriedly. "And we didn't take them all. But we'll replace everything we took. And even buy you more, if you'd like."

"Will we?" Lee frowned.

"Yes, we will."

"No, you don't have to buy us more," George said. "After all, we still beat you."

"Well hold on George. There should be some reward for winning!" Fred exclaimed. "Maybe they should buy us more."

"Only if we aren't satisfied with Meril's gifts for us."

"That's fair enough. Well, let's have it then! Meril—guide us to these gifts of which you speak!"

Meril laughed lightly as she got up from the table. She grabbed Fred's hand, which he was holding in the air as if bestowing a celestial gift, and gave him a good tug. "Come along you lot. It's time for the real presents. Don't worry—these won't turn out like those cupcakes."

"Good, because I don't think I could deal with any more additions," George murmured, scraping back the bench as he too got to his feet.

"Well I know one place where it never hurts—" Fred began to sing, but George smacked him in the arm and his song dissolved into laughter.

Once back in Gryffindor Tower, Meril sat the boys down by the fireplace and ran up to her dormitory. Hayley Dobson was already fast asleep, and Caitlin Haelstrom was studiously doing her homework. Angelina and Alicia were nowhere to be seen.

Sitting on top of her trunk were two neatly wrapped bundles, each consisting of three tiers of uniform shape. Meril cradled one under each arm and made her way carefully down the spiral staircase.

"Here you are!" Meril chirped, handing the packages to their respected recipients.

"Thanks Mer," Fred said, leaning forward and kissing her gently.

"You know, you didn't really have to get us anything," George added thoughtfully.

"Of course I did!" Meril exclaimed, flabbergasted by the very idea. "Not get you anything? After that party you threw me, how could I not get you anything? Besides, you're two of my best mates." She squeezed in between the twins, leaned towards George, and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. He promptly turned a rosy pink. "Now open them!"

On the top tier which they simultaneously tore open was a small bundle of chocolate frogs and lemon drops. In the second box, each received two books. George's were on magical transportation through the ages and a history of great pranks in Europe. Fred's were about European Quidditch teams and successful wizards who had grown up as pranksters. And finally, in the third tier, each received a Beater's care supplies, complete with a small broom care kit, new bat, and maintenance supplies for the bat.

"Do you like them?" Meril squeaked, looking back and forth between their faces, which bore identical expressions of disbelief.

"Like them?" Fred repeated hoarsely. He had his hand wrapped around the Beater's bat as if it were made of pure gold.

"How did you—"

"Hey! No questions. You guys don't need to know any of that. Just tell me—do you like them? I'm so awful at buying gifts. Please just tell me—put me out of my misery."

"They're fantastic," Fred assured her. He hooked his arm around her neck and pulled her close, pressing his lips against her forehead, cheek, and mouth.

"Thank you," George whispered. He pressed her fingers tightly in his hand, and Meril's stomach did a somersault. "Thank you very much."

* * *

**a/n **So there is the second half of the chapter. This and the last one were long, weren't they? Imagine if I had left them combined...That would be intolerable. Anyway! I hope you enjoyed them! I had fun with them, clearly. Feedback is always appreciated!


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